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His Majesty, King Chulalongkorn. 



THE 



PEARL OF ASIA 



REMmiSCENOES OF THE COURT OP A 
SUPREME MONARCH 



FIYE YEAKS IN SIAM 



JACOB T. CHILD, 

Late United States Minister at Bangkok. 



CHICAGO: '"^£'rfflPi 



DONOHUE, HENNEBERRY & CO. 
1892. 



3^/^y X. ^ 



CoPYKIOH'i'ED, 1893 
BY 

Jacob T. Child. 
The Pearl of Asia, 






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PREFACE. 



During many leisure hours, while absent amid the 
sunny glades and emerald vales of Asia's most favored 
kingdom, Siam, I made numerous notes concerning 
that land of mystic lore and ruined fanes, a section 
novel to all who have been so fortunate as to have vis- 
ited its w^alled city vv^ith its hundred glittering spires, 
whose temples and palaces are marvels of architectural 
beauty, whose wide-spreading rice-fields feed untold 
millions, its groves of waving palms ever ready to min- 
ister to man's wants, its rivers and canals plethoric 
with fish, its fruits and flowers lavishly luxuriant, an 
Eden of loveliness, the land of the lotus. To the gen- 
eral reader Siam is a terra incognita; much has been 
written concerning it by superficial observers, who 
came on one steamer and left on the next. What has 
been gathered for this volume has been carefully 
condensed and concisely told. It was my intention 
when appointed Minister to the Court at Bangkok, by 
President Cleveland, to prepare a work on this far- 
away and marvelous land that might prove of interest 
to many who may desire to know something of a peo- 
ple that live under a supreme monarch and follow the 
teaching of Buddha, and in doing so I have endeavored 
to hold the mirror up to nature, in fact, to " tell the 
truth. ' 

Eespectfully, 

Jacob T. Child. 

Richmond, Mo., June 14, 1892. 



conte:n^ts. 

Page. 

I. 
Siam Proper — The Pearl of Asia 9 

II. 
Arrival at Bangkok — Scenery on the Menam 22 

III. 
Reception by His Majesty King Chulalongkorn 35 

IX- 
Characteristics of the Country and Hahits of the People 40 

V. 
Ayuthia, The Ancient Capital 73 

VI. 
Dining with the King 86 

VII. 
Wonderful Ruins of xlngkor and Nagkon Wat 91 

VIII. 

The Supreme Palace and Royal Temples 102 

IX. 

Peculiar Manner of Scaring Away the Dragon 113 

X. 

The Water Rite 117 

XI. 

Ceremonies of Hair Cutting 123 

V 



VI CONTENTS. 

XII. 

Wat-Sa-Ket and the Siamese Golgotlia 129 

XIII. 
A Siamese Execution 136 

XIV. 
Paddy (Rice) and its Cultivation 142 

XV. 
Excessive Taxation of the People 147 

XVI. 
The King's Instructions to His Son 153 

XVII. 
Funeral of a Chinese Mandarin. ; 161 

XVIII. 

Royal Palaces at Bang-Pa-In and Ratburee 164 

XIX. 

The Legal Oath Administered to "Witnesses 173 

XX. 

^stallation of The Crown Prince .' 176 

XXI. 

Prominent Temples and Pagodas 184 

XXII. 

Buddhism in Siam 194 

XXIII. 
A Translation from the Pongsawadan, or History of the Kings 

of Siam 324 

XXIV. 
" Taut Katin," or Wat Visiting 235 



CONTENTS. Vii 

XXV. 

Grand Display of the Royal Flotilla on the Menam 239 

XXVI. 
The Marriage Ceremony Among the Affluent 247 

XXVII. 
The Attap Palm, Tong Yang and Other Trees 252 

XXVIII. 

Holidays and Festivals 260 

XXIX. 

Customs of the Siamese for the Dying and the Dead — Crema- 
tion, etc 273 

XXX. 

Practice of Medicine — Native Doctors 296 

XXXI. 

Siamese Ploughs, Ox- Yokes, and Harrows 310 

XXXII. 

Brief Synopsis of Siamese History — A Translation 314 

XXXIII. 
Fac Simile of Copy of His Majesty's Speech with Translation. . . 320 

XXXIV. 

His Majesty's Birthday Festivities 321 

XXXV. 
The Money Standard of Siam 326 ^ 

XXXVI. 
The Press of Siam 329 

XXXVII. 

A Visit to Petchaburee; Its Palace — The Holy Mountain and 
Laos Village 333 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE, 

1. His Majesty, King Chulalongkorn Contents. 

2. Temple at the Mouth of the Menam 22 

3. The King's Garden 32 

4. River View of Portion of Bangkok 36 

5. Native House in the Interior 40 

6. Scientifiic Class at Sandalay College 44 

7. Her Majesty, the Supreme or Celestial Queen 49 

8. Fruits of Siam 63 

9. Floating Houses on the Menam 73 

10. Ruins of Nagkon Wat , 91 

11. The Supreme Palace of the King 102 

12. Wat Pherce Kea, or Temple of the Emerald Idol 104 

13. Imperial Altar and Emerald Idol 113 

14. Wat Sa-Ket, or Gold Mountain 127 

15. "Court- Yard of Bangkok's Golgotha 136 

16. Residence of the American Minister in Bangkok 161 

17. Ruins in Ayuthia 164 

18. Prisoners Working in Teak Lumber Yard 173 

19. The Crown Prince, Heir Apparent to the Throne 176 

20. Golden Temple and Flotilla on the Menam 180 

21. Prabat or Temple of Footsteps of Buddha 184 

22. Brass Idol in Temple, Bangkok 187 

23. Grand Temple at Phra Pratom 191 

24. Elephant Procession in Stone 194 

25. The High Priest of Siam 224 

26. Bird's-eye View of the Palace Grounds and Wall 235 

27. A Nobleman and his Family 253 

28. Royal Premain, or Cremation Building 272 

29. Native Bullock Carts and Ox Yokes 310 

30. Scene on the Canal 314 

31. Pac Simile of his Majesty's Speech 321 

32. Interior of the Throne Room 326 



viii 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 



I. 

SIAM PKOPER— THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

By reference to the map it will be found that Siam 
is an extensive kingdom of southeastern Asia, contain- 
ing an area of about 250,000 square miles. In the north 
the country is mountainous, but it stretches toward the 
south into well-watered fertile plains on which are 
raised large crops of paddy (rice), the principal article 
of export ; the next article of importance is teak wood, 
obtained from the forests in the interior and rafted 
down the river. Sugar cane, pepper, teal seed and 
fruit trees are also largely cultivated. 

The government is an absolute monarchy, nominally 
hereditary, but the sovereign H. M. Phrabat Somdetch 
Phra Paramendr Chulalongkorn is invested with the 
power of appointing his successor. A Council of 
Ministers (Senabodie), w^th the King at its head, exer- 
cises the legislative power. There is also a Council of 
State 'which consists of the Ministers, ten to twenty 
members appointed by the King and six Princes of the 
royal house. For administrative purposes the kingdom 
is divided into forty -one provinces, each presided over 
by a Governor appointed by the King. The prevailing 
religion is Buddhism, the King being at the head of 
the church, but perfect freedom is allowed to Christian 
missionaries, Mahometans and all others. The King's 
revenue has been estimated at about $10,000,000 a 
year, derived chiefly from land tax, spirits, opium, 



10 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

gambling, customs, tin mines, fruit tree tax, fisheries 
and many others, a full list of which will be found 
elsewhere. With the exception of custom duties all 
the taxes are farmed, sold to the highest bidder. The 
expenditures are stated to be less than the receipts ; 
also, the exports less than the imports, hence the 
country is prosperous and it has no public debt. The 
population is estimated at about ten millions, but no 
census has ever been taken. There is a small standing 
army, as also a militia; every male inhabitant, with 
certain exceptions, above the age of twenty-one, is 
obliged to serve in the army for three months in the 
year. The navy consists of a few steam-corvettes 
and gun-boats under the command of Commodore 
De Richelieu, a Dane. The king's yacht, the Yesatre, 
a handsome vessel, was lost a short time before I left 
the Kingdom. 

Trade and industry are in a backward condition, 
owing to the state of serfdom in which the people are 
kept by the feudal owners of the land. The natives 
are liable to forced labor (corvee) for several months 
during the year, and this prevents much of the land 
being put in cultivation, probably not over one-twen- 
tieth of the available land being utilized for agricul- 
tural purposes ; many broad acres of the very best are 
held by the priests for religious purposes, the wat 
grounds being considered the choicest in the kingdom 
and are to be found in every available spot. There is 
a Postal and Telegraphic service in Bangkok. In 1885 
Siam joined the International Postal Union^ and these 
affairs are well managed. The foreign trade of Siam, 
in the hands of foreigners, mainly centers in Bangkok, 
but considerable tin is now being shipped from the 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 11 

Malay peninsula. -Two telegraph lines connect Bang- 
kok with the outer world, one with Burmah and the 
other via Saigon, both in good order, but the latter 
was for some time rendered useless, as the Cambodian 
insurgents pulled down the wire and cut it up for slugs 
for their rifles. 

The export of rice is yearly increasing, but for the 
past two years the crops, owing to excessive drouths, 
have been partial failures notwithstanding considerable 
new land has been brought under cultivation in the 
delta of the Menam. The teak trade has not been 
profitable for the past two years, as tlie demand for it 
in Europe has been limited. Numbers of cattle are 
annually shipped to Singapore from Bangkok, and the 
export to Burmah is very large, exceeding 50.000 head 
a year. Immense numbers of fine cattle can be found 
throughout Siara, and the prices in tlie interior are 
very low, the value of a good cow with its calf being 
five ticals or three dollars. When the road to Khorat 
is completed, opening up the interior, this will cause 
an advance in price and an increase in the industry. 
The platu, Siamese herring, has heretofore been an 
article of export, but their scarcity the past few j^ears 
has been coincident with the lowness of the river, and 
they now fail to congregate in immense shoals at the 
head of the gulf of Siam, as has been the case heretofore 
duringthe last three months ofthej'^ear. It is supposed 
that the rivers, when in full flood, bring down vegetable 
matter especially attractive as food for this species of 
fish. An abundant supply of salt is always procurable, 
obtained by evaporating sea water, and on the coast is 
principally used in the preparation of platu for export ; 
it also forms an important article of the up country 



12 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

trade. The Chinese population of Bangkok, number- 
ing about one-third of its citizens, use large quantities 
of flour which is imported from San Francisco, via 
Hong Kong, also American canned goods. Lines of 
steamers ply between Bangkok and Hong Kong, and 
from Bangkok to Singapore, which carry the mails 
and do a prosperous business. 

To Maj. James McCarthy, whose Siamese title is 
Phra Wibharg Bhuvadal, Superintendent of the Sur- 
vey Department, we are indebted for much of the fol- 
lowing information concerning this magnificent king- 
dom, he having traversed most portions of it, visiting 
parts that no white man had hitherto penetrated, for 
the purpose of preparing a correct map of Siam and 
its tributaries. Occupying the heart of Indo-China 
and nearly the whole of the Malay peninsula, it has a 
seaboard sweeping round the Gulf of Siam from about 
the 4th degree of latitude on the Malay side to about 
the 11th degree of latitude on the Cambodian side, a 
distance of nearly 1,200 miles. The great feature of 
Siam proper is its magnificent system of rivers, the 
principal of which is the Menam Chow-Phya, on which 
Bangkok is located thirty-five miles from the gulf. 
This river is commonly called the Menam, which is a 
generic name for all large rivers. Me meaning mother, 
and IS^am water. About one hundred miles from 
the sea there is a bifurcation of the river, both 
branches flowing through rich alluvial soil devoted to 
rice cultivation, the banks being well studded with 
thriving villages. Toward the delta, formed by the 
bifurcation of the river, two large streams converge, 
the Meklong, from the Burmese frontier on the north- 
west and the Bangpakong from the hills on the Khorat 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 13 

plateau; both empty themselves into the head of the 
Gulf of Siam. All these rivers are connected by navi- 
gable canals, thus enabling the Siamese to travel by 
boat to Bangkok. The rivers and canals are always 
alive vi^ith boats and rafts of teak wood and bamboo. 
The country is subject to a yearly inundation, and 
unless the rivers overflow their banks a short rice crop 
is expected, as the planters rely on irrigation. The 
May-Nam-Kong flows through the Northern and 
Eastern parts of the kingdom, receiving the waters of 
many affluents, but the channel of this mighty river is 
so blocked with large rocks and cataracts that its navi- 
gation is difficult and in some parts impossible even for 
the light native crafts. From the northeast of Chieng- 
raai two ranges of mountains branch off, one running 
south in an, unbroken chain through the Malay penin- 
sula to Singapore ; some of its peaks between Siam and 
Burmah rise to the height of 7,000 feet, one in the 
Malay peninsula reaches 8,000 feet ; the other range 
follows the course of the May-Nam-Kong, first running 
east and west and then in a southerly direction toward 
Cambodia. Siam proper is mostly flat, diversified by 
isolated hills and broken and jagged ridges of limestone 
mountains. Its population is a mingling of all Eastern 
nationalities : Siamese, Cambodians, Burmans, Annam- 
ites, Malays and Chinese; the latter swarm all over the 
country and seem to the manor born. The portion of 
the country that is administered by the Central govern- 
ment includes the greater part of the Malay penin- 
sula and the larger portion of the Menam and the May- 
Nam-Kong valley. Some Malay, Lao and Cambodian 
States are only tributary, that is, they make offerings of 
gold and silver flowers to the King at Bangkok. Each 



14 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

ruler of these States is appointed by the King and he 
exercises considerable power in his own province. The 
most important of the tributary States are those of the 
Lao, which are now under the complete control of the 
Bangkok government ; they occupy the mountainous 
country to the !North and have a fine climate. Those 
in the valley of the Menam are known as the Lao 
Phoong Dam (black-bellies), because they tattoo their 
waist to the knee, and those in the valley of the May- 
Nam-Kongare known as Lao Phoong Khao (white- 
bellies), as they do not tattoo themselves. The Lao 
very much resemble their brethren of Siam proper, 
speaking the same dialect, and those of the valley of the 
Mav-Nam-Kong bear a strong resemblance in every 
particular; many of the words peculiar to the Lao in 
ordinary conversation are said to be used in Siamese 
poetr}^ the accent being different. 

Lying between the parallels of 4 deg. and 23 deg. 
north latitude, Siam has but two seasons, distinctly 
determined by the monsoons. The southwest monsoon, 
bringing with it rain, prevails from May until Septem- 
ber, but the high mountain range running on the west, 
from north to south, prevents the excessive rainfall 
experienced on the Burman coast. From September until 
Februarv the northeast monsoon blows, and from 
ITovember to February dry weather proper and cool 
breezes prevail, rendering traveling all over the king- 
dom enjoyable and pleasant. From the middle of Feb- 
ruary until the rain sets in the heat is oppressive, but 
even at this period the thermometer seldom rises higher 
than 97 degrees in Bangkok; though, once or twice, I 
have seen it up to 100 deg. In the winter it occasion- 
ally falls to 60 deg. In the interior of the country, at 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 15 

places of low elevation, the heat is intense, sometimes 
rising to 110 cleg.; while, on the other hand, at the same 
places in winter the mercury falls as low as 45 cleg. 
The annual rainfall in Bangkok is about sixty inches, 
but in the interior of tlie country, judging from the 
inundations of the river, it must be a great deal more. 
Malarial fever is a common complaint. Cholera is 
more prevalent in Lower than Upper Siam, being rarely 
absent. Small-pox is common and His Majesty sends 
native j^hysicians throughout the kingdom to vaccinate 
the people, believing in its mitigating influence, and 
much good has been effected thereby. A small-pox 
ward ha,s been established at the Wang Lang hospital. 
The Siamese use principally herbal medicines, some of 
them very effective. Among the Laos superstition 
attributes much of the sickness to the influence of evil 
spirits. The different classes of Lao take opposite 
views of the influence of the spirits. When a person 
falls sick among the Phoong Dam the spirit doctor is 
sent for who questions the patient, frequently in a rag- 
ing fever, as to who caused his sickness, and woe be to 
the unhappy individual, whether manor woman, whose 
name may be mentioned. He is expelled from the village 
community as being possessed by the evil spirit who 
has caused the sickness, his house is burnt down and he 
is forced to live at some distant village expressly set 
apart for all possessed. With the Phoong Khaoit is 
different; to be possessed by a spirit is a great priv- 
ilege. The Governors and everyone who can afford it 
has his spirit man ; nothing important is undertaken 
without consulting him. He usually begins by work- 
ing himself into a fit, then asks for a substantial meal 
and drink of samshoo, rice whisky, and is then pre- 



16 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

pared to answer questions, drinking enough to put him 
to sleep and when he awakes pretends to a total ignor- 
ance of all that has taken place, a practice in vogue 
with our clairvoyants. 

The inhabitants of Siam are for the most part agri- 
cultural, their towns merely clusters of villages and 
hamlets, consisting of wooden and bamboo houses and 
huts thickly settled on the river banks. The capitals 
of Siam have always been noted for the beauty and 
magnificence of their palaces and temples. From 
Chieng Sen in the north, the southward march of the 
Siamese is traced by the magnificent ruins of the 
temples of the capitals of different periods. Bangkok, 
the present capital, is the site of the eighth capital since 
Chieng Sen, which, to some extent, supports the Sia- 
mese in their claim to a history extending many 
hundred years back. In Baligkok the royal palace and 
temples surpass all other buildings in richness and 
grandeur, as can be seen by illustrations. 

When Ayuthia was abandoned Bangkok became the 
capital, audit was here that the present dynasty made 
it the seat of royalty, and it is here that the king pre- 
sides over his councils and became one of the great 
reformers of the East by issuing his famous edicts 
abolishing slavery, thus placing Siam on a footing with 
the mt)re advanced nations. Outside the palace walls 
and within the city, besides the numerous temples and 
glittering pagodas, are many excellent buildings. The 
foreign representatives live on the right bank of the 
river and have handsome residences generally. The 
river itself presents a busy scene. The population of the 
city is variously estimated from seven to eight hundred 
thousand inhabitants. Khorat is the next most Impor- 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 17 

tatit city ; it is a crenela^ted walled place, the walls 
crumbling down, about three miles round, built at an 
elevation of Y50 feet above mean sea-level, and is one of 
the most important places in the valley of the May-Nam- 
Kong. The district is famous for the stupendous ruins 
of stone temples, the same in design and construction 
as those found in Cambodia and Borroboodur in Java. 
Nothmg, as is the case at Ankor, can be discovered as 
to the builders, all knowledge of them seems to have 
been lost in the past. Outside the city walls is a colony 
of Chinese who carry on all the trade of the district. 
Chiengmai, or, as it is called in Burma, Zimme, is one of 
the most important towns in the Lao Phoong Dam 
country, a walled city, about five miles round, situated 
at an elevation of 1000 feet on the Me-Ping:, or north- 
western branch of the Menam, a place of considerable 
business and the headquarters of the Presbyterian 
missionaries in the Lao states, who are accomplishing 
considerable good with their schools and hospitals. An 
English vice-consulate has been established there. It is 
in direct communication, by boat, with Bangkok, but the 
journey is a tedious one, taking under ordinary circum- 
stances as many as fifty days ; its daily market is an 
interesting sight, mostly managed by women, of whom 
at least fifteen hundred are employed. Salt is very 
scarce and it is gladly taken instead of money. Among 
those who throng the market, besides the usual Bur- 
man traders, found all over Indo-China, may be seen 
Llwas and Moosars, members of interesting hill tribes, 
the supposed aborigines of the country. The former 
occupy themselves peacefully in iron smelting; the 
latter are more retired and live by their (bows and 
arrows on almost inaccessible mountain tops, having but 



18 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

little to do with their neighbors. Luang Phrabang is the 
principal town of the Lao Phoong Khao country, and 
is oh the Ma^^-Nam-Kong, at an elevation of about one 
thousand feet above sea-level. A short time since, 
during the late troubles, this once powerful city was 
almost entirely destroyed by Black Flags, who had to 
be driven back over the border. It is very picturesquely 
located at the junction of tlie Nam-Kan, and May-ISTam- 
Kong, and surrounds a small hill. The river, which is a 
thousand yards broad, is closed in on all sides by high 
hills and presents the appearance of a lake, the scenery 
being very romantic. 

From the Malay peninsula tin, lead, gold and rubber 
are exported. The gold, worked only by Chinamen, is 
found in alluvial deposits near the heads of the largest 
rivers in the peninsula, all rising near the same moun- 
tain, the highest in Maloga, about 8,000 feet above the 
sea-level. This mountain is now the chief home of the 
few remaining groups of Oorang Utan, or wild men, 
the aborigines of that section, after which a species of 
long-armed apes have been named. The Lao country 
is that portion of the Kingdom with the greatest trade 
resources which are in no way developed. The prin- 
cipal drawback to the development of trade is the want 
of improved communications; the chief means at pres- 
ent is by the river, a comfortable enough method for 
holiday seekers, but not sufficient for this pushing age. 
In the Lao countrj' elephants, bullocks, mules, donkeys 
and carriers are to be met with in all directions carr}"^- 
ing the produce of the country; th,e mules and donkeys 
come from Yunnan, usually ladened with opium. The 
carriers accompany the Burmese peddlers, who, with 
their wares spread all over the Lao country, have 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 19 

made the Indian rupee the current coin nearly to the 
gulf of Tongking. They mostly carry raw silk and gum 
benjamin which they exchange for European goods 
at Maulmain. Me Ung, a tea that grows indiginously 
all over the Lao country, is an article of local traffic. 
To improve the communications of the country by 
railways has been the life-long idea of the King and 
the Government, and at last His Majesty has entered 
into a contract with an English company to build a 
road from Bangkok to Khorat, a distance of about 
three hundred miles, at his expense, which will be 
extended to the frontier should business justify it. 
Another road is also under construction, from Bangkok 
to Chanta Boon, a thriving place on the coast of the 
gulf. 

Buddhism is the national faith and by many consid- 
ered merely a religion of philosophy, while some of 
the more advanced and learned Siamese claim that the 
late Professor Darwin and many of the liberal Pro- 
fessors of the present day are real Buddhists. In the 
Lao country, however, spirit worship has crept into 
their religion to a considerable extent. Spirits disport 
themselves everywhere, but the tops of trees are the 
favorite haunt, and one very often sees all manner of 
offerings placed at the foot of gigantic forest trees to 
propitiate them. Tliere are numerous temples, monas- 
teries and excellent rest houses (salas), built from 
motives of charity for weary travelers. The monasteries 
contain scores of yellow-robed priests or monks ; they 
keep their heads shaven, even their eyebrows, and eat 
but one meal a day, which they must go out and beg 
for in the early morning. They practice celibac}?^, but 
are at liberty to leave the monastic life when the}^ feel 



20 THE PEARL OF A.SIA. 

soinclmed. Ever}^ man in tlie Kingdom, including the 
King, must, after the age of twenty-one, enter the 
priesthood for at least a short period. "With the numer- 
ous monasteries in the country no one need starve, and 
thousands of indolent men and boys seek the wats for 
rice, and the priests always supply them with food. A 
man going to sleep hungry in Siam is unheard of, 
except under extraordinary circumstances, such as being 
confined in prison or lost in the jungle. 

To the Governors and Judges appointed by the King 
are delegated the administration of justice, such as it is. 
The laws are now being codified and many of them 
excellent, especially in regard to the sale and transfer 
of property. If interest is not collected on a mortgage 
for six years the interest then ceases and persons holding 
property for ten years without paying rent become the 
owners. There is no usury law and money brings what 
a person can get for it, but the regular rate of interest is 
from ten to twelve per cent. Disorder is of rare occur- 
rence among the Siamese proper, the people being noted 
for a love of peace and quiet ; but when they become 
aroused, as was the case lately near Changmai, they 
can become decidedly belligerent, but the Government 
crushed the movement with a strong hand, beheaded 
several of the leaders, and the people returned to work. 
In Nan, one of the Lao provinces, the punishment for 
theft is death, and one's property can literally be left 
on the highway without the slightest danger of anyone 
interfering with it. In support of this rigorous law the 
Governor of Nan informed me that it was only about 
once in three years the services of an executioner was 
needed, whereas in other states, where such a law is not 
in force, many lives were annually lost through rob- 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 21 

bery, as the people were powerless to protect them- 
selves, having no firearms. 

As a general thing, the Judges and officials are igno- 
rant and incompetent, frequently corrupt, no one hav- 
ing any confidence in their decisions ; " squeezing," as 
it is termed in the East, having been reduced to a fine 
art. At times prisoners are tortured, to make them 
confess, by mashing their fingers till the nails come off, 
applying a bamboo band around the head to which is 
attached a handle which, being struck, the vibration 
causes the most intense agony, the Siamese term it 
" death," whipping v^ith a bamboo, the victim being 
stretched out on the ground, face down, with a man 
holding his arms and another his feet, stretching him 
out his full length, and then the executioner almost 
flays him alive, his weapon a piece of bamboo about 
four feet in length and three inches in width, which 
cuts like a knife when it strikes the tightly drawn skin. 
With the advance of western ideas this is rapidly being 
abolished, though at times the jailers treat their pris- 
oners brutally. 



II. 

AEKIYAL AT BAI^GKOK— SCENEKY ON THE 
MENAM. 

A gentle zephyr swept over the sparkling waters of 
the Siamese gulf as the Taichow gracefully steamed 
across the bar that guards the mouth of the Menam 
Chow Pyah, the main river of the last of the oriental 
kingdoms, Siam, to most of the world a terra incognita. 
It was a lovely evening; the sun was slowly sinking 
into a bed of crimson, canopied by clouds of gorgeous 
coloring, rimmed in with pearliest of skies, v/hile 
emblazoned on the eastern heavens hung a perfect 
rainbow, spanning the river that seemed to spring from 
groves of palm which laved their roots in the fast- 
flowing stream ; an hour and a scene in keeping with 
the end of a voyage from the Occident to the orient, 
from land of pine to land of palm. Sweeping round 
the bend of the river, about five miles from its mouth, 
a panorama of supernal loveliness burst upon the 
view, riveting the attention of the most stolid, and 
making a deep impress upon all on board. In the 
midst of .the river and near a large fort, rose majesti- 
cally from the water one of the most unique and 
artistic temples or wats (as they are termed in Siam), 
in the realms of Buddhistic worshipers, a poem of 
architectural sublimity. The structure, which covers 
at least one acre of ground, is as white as if hewn 
from Pentellicus, and its airy spire and lace-like halls 
and corridors, as seen in the gloaming, seemed to be 

23 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 23 

the work of genii. It completely covers the island on 
which it is built, and thus has the appearance of spring- 
ing from the flood, wiiile around its walls the Avaters 
ever chant a requiem for the ages fled. This wat 
was erected by the father of the present king, to pro- 
pitiate the spirits of the stream, and is worthy 
of its position at the portals of this nature-dowered, 
sun-emblazoned land of ancient lore, the pearl of Asia, 
a temple fit for the abode of the lorlei of the Orient. 
Tiie fort that guards the entrance to the river is one of 
the best in the kingdom and is of considerable strength, 
built on an island and mounts some heavy modern guns, 
among them several Krupps ; it has complete command 
of the stream, while on either side are strong fortifica- 
tions which could be speedily manned should necessity 
require. Here, also, is located the village of Packnam, 
and now' for the first time one gets an idea of Siamese 
architecture and the habitations of the people. The 
palaces and residences of the princes and nobles are, 
many of them, handsome and palatial, built of brick 
and stuccoed with hard white cement, which gives 
them the appearance of having been built of marble, 
with large wide verandahs, upon which open innumer- 
able doors and windows to allow free ingress of air; 
the roofs are of various colored tiles and add no little 
to the appearance of the building, as they are 
highly ornamental. The palaces are generally two 
stories high, with large rooms and corridors ; the ceil- 
ings, which are handsomely 'frescoed and elaborately 
gilded, are about sixteen feet in height, which adds no 
little to the appearance, as well as comfort, of the rooms ; 
the floors are, in man v instances, inlaid with various 
kinds of wood in the most elaborate pattern, and as no 



24 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

carpets are used they are kept highly polished and dis- 
play to advantage the skill of the native designers. 
The main entrance is by flights of marble, or stone 
steps, to a portico on the second story, thence into a 
handsome corridor ; the lower story is only used for the 
servants and slaves, who are innumerable. 

As a general thing, the palaces are handsomely fur- 
nished, especially the drawing-rooms, pictures adorn 
the walls and rare articles of bronze and porcelain 
add additional interest to the surroundings and show 
the artistic taste of the occupant; the grounds are kept 
in admirable order, and on all sides the serpentine walks 
are bordered with crotons and other rare flowers, gor- 
geous in coloring and as fragrant as the breath of 
morn sweeping over a bed of violets, amid which spring, 
at intervals, the graceful palm and feathery bamboo 
making an admirable framework for the white-winged 
edifice thus held in the clasp of nature's choicest treas- 
ures. The Siamese are natural gardeners, are imbued 
with an idea of the beautiful, which they display 
in laying off the grounds in the best of taste, and thus 
the parterre of many a palace is an artistic picture, bril- 
liant with coloring and musical with birds. But there 
is another side to the picture. While the nobles thus 
live in splendor, the vast majority reside in dwellings 
built, in the frailest manner, of teak covered with the 
attap palm, a thatch that answers admirably, which are 
reared up on poles about six feet high above the ground 
or over the water of the rivers or canals. But, as the 
weather is always warm, they answer all the purposes 
necessary for the native, whose sole idea is to enjoy life 
as indolently as possible, doing but little work, and that 
under compulsion. As his necessities are but few, 



THE PEARL OF ASI.i. 



25 



requiring but little clothing, wearing neither shoes nor 
hat, his food rice, fruit and fish, his only luxury 
betel, he sleeps, gambles, fishes or works as the spirit 
moves him ; the women taking upon themselves the 
task of caring for their progeny, which run as naked 
over the fields or through the streets as Eve found her- 
self before the typical fig-leaf became a fashionable 
garment. 

Passing Packnam and taking on custom-house offi- 
cers, the Taichow anchored ; then when morn's first 
rosy blush coruscated the eastern sky the steamer 
breasted the current, and as its grand proportions 
opened out in the early dawn an ever-changing pano- 
rama greeted the eye : its surface dotted with boats of 
various kinds, many of them rowed by yellow-robed 
priests who were in search of their daily rice, as they 
live exclusively on charity ; its banks lined with palms 
and tropical verdure, while at intervals was passed wats 
embowered in greenest of foliage, whose gilded spires 
and tiled roofs flashed back most royally the beams of 
the rising sun ; villages wnth houses built out in the 
stream, and wide stretches of rice fields upon which 
were grazing herds of buffalo and cattle. It was a scene 
truly oriental and worth a trip half round the globe to 
witness. In a couple of hours the shipping at the 
wharves, the junks anchored in the river, the innumer- 
able floating houses and rice mills, residences and boats, 
denoted that Bangkok, the city of olives, the capital of 
Siam, had been reached, that our voyage was ended. 
Here the Menam is about half a mile in width ; for 
twelve miles it flows through a densely populated city, 
while upon its waters float myriads of boats, from the 
smallest canoe to large rice and cargo boats, aquatic 



26 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

habitations of thousands, which ply on the rivers and 
canals throughout the interior, thus bringing in the 
produce of the country for hundreds of miles, the only 
means of reaching market. 

Upon landing, a new civilization meets one ; the scan- 
tily-clad Siamese, the almond-eyed son of Confucius, 
the swarthy Malay, the tattooed Laos, stalwart Bur- 
mese, fine-featured Hindoo, Parsee and Mahometans, 
mixed up with yellow-robed priests of Buddha, greet 
the eye, and the white man is welcomed with a polite- 
ness and courtesy truly Asiatic ; but he soon realizes 
that he is in a strange land, a land of mysticism, whose 
legends run back to the genesis of time, whose tradi- 
tions come down from the dim past as poetical as 
the songs of Solomon, photographed on the plastic 
memory of generations. Here Buddhism rears its 
gilded wats, here Mahomet has his worshipers, the 
Parsee daily turns his face to the rising sun; and here 
the followers of the son of Mary, the lone ISTazarine, 
have planted their altars and the voice of many descended 
from parents of a different faith now mingle together 
and breathe forth fervent pravers to the martyr of 
Calvary, for the labors of the missionaries have been 
productive of good work; though but now in the bud, 
it must necessarily Hower forth in all of its beauty and 
be productive of a golden harvest. They have sown 
their seed in fertile soil. 

The city of Bangkok, the capital of Siam, situated 
thirty-five miles from the gulf, has well been called 
the Yenice of the East. Its main thoroughfare is the 
Menam Chowpea, Menam meaning mother of waters. 
It is the largest stream in the kingdom and is navi- 
gable to Raheng, some five hundred miles in the 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA, 27 

interior; into it pours a number of tributaries that 
take their rise in the mountains, but it is only during 
the rainy season that it is navigable that high up ; then 
the merchant and native avail themselves of the high 
water, which at times overflows the country for miles, 
to raft down the teak that has been hauled by 
elephants to the river, and to ship the paddy (unhulled 
rice) to the capital city. Bangkok is also permeated 
with innumerable canals, many of them running far 
into the interior and connecting the other rivers that 
empty into the upper waters of the Siamese gulf, so 
that there is an unbroken chain of communication by 
waterways over this portion of the kingdom for 
the transportation of produce to this central mar- 
ket. As the country is perfectly level, or nearly 
so, the canals do not require locks, but are always 
open and easily navigable for the largest sized 
boats; at all times the canals are thronged with 
boats transporting cattle, rice and other products of 
the countrj^ from the interior, and thev are well 
stocked with fish. Along the margin of the river can 
be seen the large paddy mills, twenty-four in number, 
where the rice is hulled and prepared for shipment in 
sacks holding about two bushels, vast quantities of 
which go to China, India and Europe. The mills 
are run by steam-power, and the fuel used is the tusk 
of the paddy. Many of the mills are lighted with 
electric lights and have all the modern improve- 
ments, employing hundreds of Chinese coolies 
at two salungs a day, about twenty cents American 
mone}^. They work hard for that, unloading and 
loading vessels, but they work with great willingness 
and seem contented. After their work is over they can 



28 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

be seen sitting in front of their houses, half clad, 
smoking opium; that appears to be their sole idea 
of dissipation, save when they resort to the gambling 
dens, licensed by the government, as they are inveter- 
ate gamblers, and they occasionally indulge in drink- 
ing samshu, a villainous liquor made from rice, 
which is highly intoxicating. Most of these rice mills 
are owned by Europeans and Chinese, but the first 
one erected was by Americans, and is still known by 
the name of American mill. The city proper lies 
along the river and the canals, and is thickly built up 
on both sides of the stream for nearly fourteen miles; 
but the palaces and substantial and handsome resi- 
dences of the princes and nobles are hid by a fringe 
of floating houses, which in some places are two deep, 
and are owned and occupied by traders who pay 
a smallsumfor the water privileges, and who sell every- 
thing needed. Some of the houses are handsomely fitted 
up and finished, built of teak, while others are built 
of bamboo; many of them are covered with attap, a 
species of palm that only grows in Siam and the 
Straits settlements, while others are covered with cor- 
rugated iron. The floating house is one of the promi- 
nent features of the city, and the natives regard them 
as more healthy than those on land, as they can thus 
easily get rid of all their debris by tumbling it into the 
river, and have all the water the}^ want without having 
to carry it; which, as they bathe once or twice a day, is a 
great convenience. The city proper is confined within 
white walls, forming a circuit of four and a half miles, 
about twelve feet high, with sixteen large gates 
opening out on the main thoroughfares each fif- 
teen feet higii; these walls are built of brick, 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 29 

stuccoed with a white cement, which is as hard 
as marble and is made by mixing palm molasses with 
the plaster when it is applied ; at the base they are ten 
feet thick, and at the top they are so arranged that per- 
sons can walk along them; at certain distances towers 
are erected with lance-like windows, so that rifle-men 
can command the approaches. Inside the walls is a 
road or street, running parallel thereto, laid with 
brick and covered with sand, which extends around the 
entire distance, about six miles, making a good drive, 
and from each gate a road leads to the palace which 
is enclosed within similar walls, as seen by illustration, 
and is situated on the right river bank, presenting a 
handsome view both from there and along the espla- 
nade. It is enclosed with double walls pierced by mas- 
sive gates covered with iron, which are closed at night ; 
the inner walls enclose the palace proper, where the 
King and his wives and servitors reside ; outside, but 
within the outer walls, is the royal wat in which is 
enshrined the emerald idol; the golden pagoda con- 
taining the sacred relics of Buddha ; a handsome wat 
in which, in an elaborately carved cabinet of ebony 
and mother of pearl, are the books of the great 
teacher, the floor of this temple is covered with 
a carpet of woven silver ; the magnificent por- 
celain pagoda in which are placed the 
golden urns that hold the ashes of the Kings and 
Princes of Siam, the foreign office, the mint, the 
stables of the white elephants and the new court of 
justice, besides innumerable residences of servants of 
the various queens and barracks for the guards ; also a 
market, as it is reported that over five thousand per- 
sons reside within the enclosure. The court- vard of 



30 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

the palace proper is very handsome. About two acres 
in extent, paved with blocks of black and white marble, 
ornamented with statues and dwarf China trees in hand- 
some porcelain pots. The entrance to the building is 
by two pair of stairs that lead up to a magnificent 
portico, also of marble, with marble pillars that can 
not be less than thirty feet high, and at the base of the 
stairs are two elephants heavily gilt, nearly of 
life size. The interior of the palace is in keeping 
with its entrance, and the reception room of 
his Majesty is one of the handsomest extant 
and literally crowded with works of art of the 
rarest description; among others a number of onyx 
tables, which Prince Devawongse, Foreign Min- 
ister and brother of the King, informed me that he 
purchased in New York. Inside the walls Bangkok is 
laid out at angles centering on the palace, and the 
streets are well paved and kept in good condition 
lighted at night with gas and oil lamps ; on each side 
are built rows of two-story houses mostly of brick, and 
covered with tile, nearly all of which are owned by the 
King and Princes, bringing them in a handsome rev- 
enue, as rents are very high ; the houses are principally 
occupied as stores and workshops, the occupants living- 
upstairs. One of the main thoroughfares is known as' 
the iSTew Poad, running parallel with the river, about a 
quarter of a mile back, and connected therewith by 
smaller avenues. It extends from Bankolem Point, at 
the lower part of the city, a distance of seven miles, to 
the city gate, and is closely built up with a heterogeneous 
mass of houses, brick, teak and bamboo. A vast amount 
of business, in the retail way, is done on this avenue, 
as it is alwavs crowded with natives and along it runs 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 31 

a tramway that extends to the palace, and the cars are 
always crowded, the fare being eight ats, equivalent to 
eight of our cents. Other avenues, well and substan- 
tially built, lead to the cit}^ walls which are pierced by 
large gateways, closed with heavy iron-covered doors, 
at each of which is posted a sentinel, always on guard, 
seemingly more as an ornament than a necessity, as no 
one ever heard of any one having been arrested for 
passing through. Most of the Princes have palaces 
inside of the city walls, but the elder brother 
of the King, Prince Ong Yoi, has his palace, a 
rather modest building, on the west bank of the 
river, nearly opposite the roj^al residence; the 
Crown Prince's palace, a magnificent structure, is 
a short distance from the main portion of the 
city; it is a modern building, ornamented with 
towers and turrets, buiit of brick and stone ; it is a very 
imposing structure and is surrounded by handsome 
grounds. The esplanade, south of the palace walls, is 
about three-quarters of a mile in length, and over two 
hundred feet in width, handsomely laid out and flanked 
on the south side by the arsenal, a large, handsome 
building, and rows of houses occupied by officers and 
employes of the government; the road is solidly paved 
with hard brick, covered with sand, and on each side is 
wide stretches of grass kept closely mowed and in 
splendid order, making a magnificent boulevard. The 
King's garden, a short distance from the palace, is a 
lovely spot and worthy of the admiration it always 
receives from visitors. It is handsomely laid off in 
walks, and scattered over it are the rarest tropical 
plants and trees, all of which are carefully cared for ; 
the orchid house is about two hundred feet in length.^ 



32 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

two stories high, the upper story having no roof, so 
that potted plants of all kinds are placed therein and 
grow to perfection in the sunshine that simmers down 
on tliem in a shower of molten gold. One of the 
features of the garden is agothicaisle of lofty bamboos 
three hundred feet in length and thirty feet in height, 
as perfect in form as any to be found in the old min- 
sters of England, a marvel of artistic skill and an 
object of rare beauty, entirely unique. In the center 
of the grounds is a handsome Italian monument, 
erected by the King in remembrance of the death of 
his Queen who was accidentally drowned several years 
since, and it is a worthy tribute to a most esti- 
mable lady, her death being deeply deplored 
by all his subjects. Throughout the grounds are 
fountains, ornamental summer houses and band- 
stands, the King's band playing there every 
Saturday, at which time the gardens are thrown open 
to the public and on the lawn the Europeans and 
nobles play tennis, croquet and other games. At one 
time the King had collected a number of animals with 
the intention of establishing a zoo, but nearly all of 
the animals have died and the cages are rapidly falling 
into decay. Though not so large as some of the parks 
in the East, this garden or park is decidedly one of the 
handsomest and is kept in good order ; the drives and 
walks are well rolled, the grass closely mown, the 
shrubbery and bushes well trimmed, and no more 
pleasant place can be found in the city to spend an hour 
of pure and unalloyed enjoyment. The canals, or 
klangs, as the natives term them, are the main feature 
of the place ; along them live a dense population and 
for many miles can be found stores filled with goods 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 66 

of all kinds and workshops, a hive of industry. A num- 
ber of the canals are over one hundred feet in i/sidth, 
along which pass a steady stream of boats of all sizes, 
and as the canals rise and fall with the tide in the 
river they act as sewers to carry off the filth that necessa- 
rily accumulates in such a crowded community ; but 
at times it is almost unbearable to pass along them 
caused by the stench arising from the decaying 
carcass of a dog or other animal floating in the water, 
as everything is thrown into the river or canal, it being 
the easiest way of disposing of them. At all hours of the 
day can be seen numbers of the natives disporting 
themselves in the water, as they know that frequent 
bathing is conducive to health ; the children, as a nat- 
ural consequence, are taught to swim early, and as they 
go as naked as a Greek statue it is no novelty to see a 
shoal of them not two feet high gamboling in the water 
like so many porpoises, and from a look at their merry 
faces you can see that they enjoy it, and no more 
cheerful people live than the children of " the land of 
the afternoon," where the lotus blooms and nature is 
lavish in her productions. 

The stories told by travelers about the overflows of 
the country are but partially correct, and that in 
regard to Bangkok being a city built on poles over a 
continually flowing river is veritable bosh. Only 
twice in the five years that I was a resident at Bang- 
kok did the high tide in the Menam get out into the 
city, and that was only in a few low places where the 
back-water overflowed from the canals. In the 
interior considerable land is overflowed at times, 
during the months of November and December, the 
spring tides, but then only for an hour or two daily, 



34 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

which benefits the soil. There is no more solidly 
built city than Bangkok ; the large majority of the 
people live in good houses with solid floors, where the 
rise from the river never reaches them, the floors being 
level with the ground, their houses being built of brick, 
two stories high. Large numbers of houses are built 
on pile, especially along the canals and out in the 
interior. The reason for this is that they are but frail 
bamboo structures, and many of the natives believe 
that it is wicked to live in the lower story of a house 
if the upper is occupied, especially by females, hence 
the lower part is devoted to the dogs, pigs, cows and 
other scavengers who clean up all the debris thrown 
through the cracks in the floor ; also it msiy be for the 
purpose of being out of the reach of toads, snakes and 
the multitudinous worms that infest the lower floors. 
On the high lands the natives have these long-legged 
houses, which they reach with a ladder about six to 
eight feet in length. The}^ say it keeps tigers and 
thieves out, as the ladder is drawn up every night for 
protection. The palaces, temples, warehouses, hotels, 
colleges, residences of themerchants, mills, etc., are large 
and substantial buildings built in modern style, and 
the water of the Menam was never known to encroach 
on them. 



III. 

RECEPTION BY HIS MAJESTY KING CHUL- 
ALONGKORJSr. 

The lirst official act that a minister performs when 
he reaches Bangkok is to call on the Foreign Minister, 
now H. R. H. Prince Devawongse, and request an 
audience with the King, at the same time presenting 
an office copy of the letter of the President to Chula- 
longkorn I. Duly armed with a copy of President 
Cleveland's letter and a copy of the remarks to be 
made in presenting it, in company with the Vice 
Consul General, Dr. McDonald, I was driven to the 
palace of the Foreign Minister, who gave us a most 
cordial reception. After an exchange of pleasantries 
the Prince informed me that it would give him great 
pleasure to let me know at what time it would please 
His Majesty to accord us an audience. Much pleased 
with the courteous and affable manner of my reception, 
I returned to the Legation to await the action of the 
Siamese officials. In this instance thev acted promptly. 
I^ext morning Prince D. called with the information 
that His Majesty would be pleased to receive us that 
day at 5 p. m. at the supreme palace, and that one of the 
state carriages would be placed at our disposal. At the 
hour named a handsome open carriage, drawn by four 
Australian horses, with outriders and driver dressed in 
scarlet livery, drove up to the entrance of the Legation, 
and a leading official, who spoke English fluently, 
informed me that he had been deputed to convey the 

35 



36 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

Doctor and myself to the palace, whereupon we entered 
the carriage; the outriders galloped in front, the driver 
cracked his whip and away we went at a rattling rate, 
scattering pedestrians on all sides, dashed through the 
gateways in the city walls, the sentinels saluting us, 
and after a drive of about three miles turned from the 
main highway into the esplanade that skirts the palace 
walls. As soon as our carriage made its appearance a 
battery stationed near the main entrance to the palace 
grounds commenced firing a salute of forty guns. 
Reaching the eastern walls we drove through a mas- 
sive gateway and found ranged on each side 
of a broad paved avenue, a distance of over 
two hundred yards, a double line of soldiers, 
armed with repeating rifles, standing at a salute. 
Passing down the line our driver halted at the portals 
of the second wall, that which encloses the palace, 
when we alighted and were conducted into the court 
where more soldiers were stationed, who presented 
arms as we advanced. To the right, as we entered, 
were the royal white elephants dressed out in Asiatic 
splendor, their howdas and trappings sparkling with 
gold and jewels, their keepers in barbaric uniforms. 
A large body of native musicians, dressed in scarlet, 
saluted us with a weird kind of music, beating on 
peculiar shaped drums with their hands. In front of 
the palace was placed the King's band of musicians, 
lead by an Italian, who performed the Star-Spangled 
Banner, a compliment to the American minister. 
Crossing the handsome court we were received at the 
steps of the portico, which were covered with carpets, 
by the King's body-guard, a picked body of men, Avho 
presented arms, and we were escorted into the palace by 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 



37 



one of the Princes who was Avaiting to receive us. It 
was a scene of Asiatic pomp and power; the flashing 
steel of the military, the gorgeous trappings of the ele- 
phants, the music of the native drummers, the strains 
of the King's band with hundreds of spectators squat- 
ting around, with the white walls and gleaming roof 
and towers of the palace made a picture worth a visit 
to the Orient to witness, one that would have immor- 
talized an artist could he have placed it on canvass. 
It seemed as if it was a scene eliminated from the 
Arabian Nights. I could not help remarking to the 
Doctor, '^ This is indeed grand." Entering the anti- 
chamber we were received by Prince Devawongse and 
other leading Princes and officials. As soon as we 
were seated tea was handed round and I was requested 
to write m}'^ name in an album, which I did, then in 
another with the date of my birth. I suppose that the 
latter was for the purpose of allowing the court astrol- 
ogers to cast my horoscope and see whether I would 
be antagonistic to their government. While convers- 
ing pleasantly about my tri23 and other matters a 
blare of bugles rang out: the Prince informed me 
that His Majesty was waiting to receive me, and I was 
at once ushered into the throne room (see engraving), in 
Avhich was assembled most of the Princes and nobles of 
the realm in full costumes, the buckles of their gold 
belts flashing with gems of priceless value. Advancing to 
the center of the room I beheld the King standing under 
the royal pagoda umbrella, on a dais about four feet in 
height, dressed, as his picture represents, in a white 
Prince Albert coat, plum-colored panung and white 
stockings, and low quartered shoes; across his breast 
he wore a broad yellow sash and a number of orders, 



38 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

and held in his hand* a sheathed sword, its scabbard 
encrusted with jewels. At first sight he impressed me 
with the idea that he was every inch a king. Bowing 
three times to His Majesty, who returned the salutation, 
I laid the letter of President Cleveland on a silver 
tripod and waited for the court interpreter to introduce 
me, which he did in an oration of considerable length, 
in Siamese ; the letter of President Cleveland was then 
handed to the King, who welcomed me to Siam and 
spoke feelingly of the warm friendship that existed 
between the two countries, to which I responded in a 
similar manner. The King then asked me a number of 
questions in regard to my trip, which was interpreted 
to me, and he then bowed gracefully and retired ; the 
audience was over and I was then introduced to a 
number of the brothers of the King and Governors of 
provinces. Next day a copy of the King's speech with 
the translation was sent me. Leaving the palace w^e 
were again escorted through the ranks of the soldiery 
and returned to the Legation. It was one of the most 
impressive and imposing ceremonials that I had ever 
witnessed. The scene in the throne room was gorgeous 
beyond description ; the rays of the sun, streaming 
through stained glass windows, a royal tint of soft 
purple, fell like a benison on the coats of cloth of gold 
and silver worn by the Siamese noblemen. They were 
in full dress to do honor to the representative of the 
great republic, and I looked, in my plain suit of black, 
like a crow among a flock of tropical birds. 

This reception by the King was an epoch in my life, 
and the impression I then formed of the supreme ruler 
of Siam was borne out by his actions during my five 
years stay in his dominions: that he was a wise, humane. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 39 

prudent and brainy monarch. Under his sway many 
of the ills hitherto borne by his people have been amel- 
iorated ; he has abolished slavery in its worst form, is 
protecting the people from the squeezing of avaricious 
governors, has made inquiries in the reported corrup- 
tion of the judiciary, aided and assisted education, is 
paying personal attention to the carrying out of the laws, 
encourages all kinds of progress and throws no stumb- 
ling blocks in the way of the labor of the missionaries; 
in fact, allowed his son, the Crown Prince, to lay the 
corner-stone of the magnificent Catholic college, besides 
subscribing a considerable sum in aid of its erection. 
'No foreigner who has been accorded an audience with 
KingChulalongkorn I. but leaves his presence impressed 
with the belief that he is the foremost rnan of his 
nation and that his people are blessed with a ruler, 
unlike most Asiatic monarchs, kind and humane. 
Under his rule the kingdom has grown into wealth and 
power; Bangkok has become a city of great commercial 
importance, fast becoming one of the noted metropo- 
lises of the world. 



IT. 

CHARACTEEISTICS OF THE COIJNTEY AND 
PIABITS OF THE PEOPLE. 

The natives of Siam, the peasants, are virtually 
peons; they attach themselves to some master and have 
his name tattoed on their wrist, called sak, otherwise 
they are liable to be arrested and placed in the army 
for life. For the privilege of becoming a retainer of a 
nobleman the servant gives one month service during 
the year, which he can work out, or he can pay from 
five to ten ticals for his time. If he should get into 
diflBculty with any of the many tax collectors his mas- 
ter sees that he is not squeezed, he standing between 
him and any attempt to take advantage of his sur- 
roundings. His wants are few, a bamboo hut and a 
few cooking utensils, but little furniture, scarcely any 
clothing ; a small amount of rice, a fish or a piece of 
meat and a pinch or two of salt, together with fruit, 
goes to make up his bill of fare, but at times he indulges 
in canumb (sweet cakes) or preserved fruit, and spends 
the best portion of the day chewing betel ; all are invet- 
erate chewers, from King to peasant. Men and women 
are clothed alike, wearing a panung around the loins, 
which extends from the waist to the knee. It is made 
of cloth, cotton or silk, according to the rank of the 
wearer, and is about three yards in length and one yard 
in width, which is wrapped around the body with the 
ends drawn between the legs and then tucked in the 
fold, looking, when on, like a pair of knee breeches. 

40 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA.. 41 

The women, also, wear a cotton band around the breast; 
leaving the shoulders exposed like a decollete dresS; 
sometimes a white linen jacket across which they throw 
a broad silk scarf, yellow being the most fashionable 
color. But few of them wear shoes or hats, their dark 
hair shining with cocoanut oil, with a flower fastened 
in it. The nobles dress neatly, wear Prince Albert 
coats, panungs, hats and shoes and stockings. Having 
small extremities they look neat and attractive in low 
quarter shoes and silk stockings. When in attendance 
at the palace or on holidays they dress gorgeously, 
their coats made of a damascene cloth of silver and gold, 
over which at times they throw a lace or gauze robe. 
All wear flexible gold belts, some of which are very hand- 
some, the buckles set with precious stones; many of the 
wealthiest use large diamonds for buttons, among 
others I noticed that the ex-Kromata, Chow Phya 
Bhanuwongse Maha Kosa Dhipati Thi Phra Klang, had 
his coat buttoned with five diamonds of the purest 
water, about the size of hazel nuts. _ 

The male Siamese peasant is indolent ; he lets the 
women do most of the work while he fishes or gambles 
or chows a boat. Tlie mania for gambling pervades all 
ranks; men, women and children can be seen engaged 
in it, from throwing coppers up to horse racing and 
cock fighting, the Malay breed of chickens being pro- 
verbial for their fighting propensities. In every vil- 
lage is a regular cockpit, around which the villagers con- 
gregate and bet on the rival chickens. They also fight 
kites by crossing the strings of two or more while fly- 
ing, and the one that breaks the string of the other is 
the victor. Thousands of persons can be seen of an 
evening at the Lotus gardens watching a kite fight. 



42 THK PEARL OF ASIA. 

Small fish about an inch and a half in length, reared 
for the purpose, are placed in a transparent jar filled 
with water, when they fight till one kills the other ; 
they are the gamiest little things extant ; when angry 
they expand their fins and swell up like a rooster, 
assuming the most brilliant colors. A species of beetle 
is also taught to fight ; in fact a Siamese will bet on 
anything, and licensed gambling houses can be seen in 
every part of Bangkok and other cities throughout 
the kingdom. The royal lottery is very popular with 
all classes, it has two drawings daily. At noon and 
midnight boats ply up and down the river calling out 
the lucky numbers, and hundreds of purchasers can be 
seen watching for the boats to appear so that they 
may learn what their ticket has drawn. Thousands of 
tickets are sold, the Chinese investing largely. Wheels 
of fortune can be seen in all the bazaars at their fairs, 
I which are held at the various wats ; the handsomest 
Siamese girls are selected to preside at the booths where 
they have glass jars filled with tickets, on which is 
named an article on exhibition, and by paying a small 
sum you are allowed to draw a ticket. Like similar 
lotteries at home, it is seldom that one gets back the 
value of the coin invested. Eaffles are also very popu- 
lar with the Chinese residents. Chess is played by the 
nobles and princes, some of them very expert, particu- 
larly Prince DevaAvongse, who is considered one of the 
best players on the coast. For three days, the Siamese 
ISrew,y.ear, gambling is allowed to be carried on free, at 
other times it is licensed and under the control of the 
farmer who has purchased the exclusive right of the 
city. Saturnalia then reigns supreme, and gambling- 
devices can be seen on every side. 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 43 

The houses of the mass of people are built of bamboo, 
with attap palm roofs, raised on poles about five feet 
above the ground, with one or two doors and a couple 
of openings with shutters for windows. Glass is 
unknown, and lire for comfort is never needed ; what 
little they have to cook is done on a clay furnace, and 
they use but a small quantity of wood or charcoal, as 
fuel is scarce and expensive. The houses are built 
generally near a river or canal, and frequently the 
building extends out over the water, so that all the filth 
or debris can be easily disposed of. Dogs, cats, ducks, 
chickens, children and pigs all live together. As the 
natives squat down to rest they require no chairs to sit 
on, in fact the only furniture they have is a mat and a 
mosquito net, a water jar, some cooking utensils, a 
chest or two, a clock and a small mirror, sometimes a 
few pictures. Everything denotes indigence, but I have 
been informed that in many instances the inmates have 
valuable jewels and heavy gold chains, which, should 
they need money, they can easily pawn, the city being 
full of pawn shops, the curse of the place, owned by 
Chinese, in which can be found rare curios that have 
been stolen. A large class live in boat houses ; they are 
principly merchants and traders, and some of them have 
their houses furnished neatly and others elaborately ; 
their furniture is made of ebony, rose, padoo and 
other rare woods inlaid with mother of pearl and 
lacquer, the ceilings gilded, from which hang innumer- 
able lamps and chandeliers, it being their belief that 
light keeps away evil spirits. During an epidemic of 
cholera hundreds of tall poles are raised, on the top of 
which are suspended lanterns which are kept burning 
to scare away the bad angels that are supposed to be 



44 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

hovering around in search of victims. At night the 
Menam is a blaze of light from the houses, the ports of 
the ships are all open, and as you slowly drift down 
with the tide it seems like a glimpse of fairyland, a 
chapter culled from the Arabian ITights. 

The youth of the country are taught to read and 
write and instructed in mathematics by the priests in the 
temples, the boys serving as acolytes; but now that the 
King has put the educational department of the govern- 
ment in the hands of Prince Dumarong, he is doing all 
that lies in his power to encourage education by giving 
it his personal attention; that he is suceeding can be 
seen from the photograph of the scientific class at San- 
dalay College, the Siamese high school, now under the 
charge of Rev. Dr. McFarland, an American, who has 
spent over a quarter of a century in the Emerald 
Kingdom ; he is an eminent educator and is succeeding 
admirably. ISTo brighter young men can be found in 
any of our colleges than these pupils of his, who are 
destined to fill responsible positions in the Siamese 
government. The latest and most improved text-books 
are selected for the schools, English and American pre- 
ferred. Having attended several examinations of the 
scholars, I was astonished at the proficiency manifested 
by all. At the last examination of the students at 
Sandalay College the Crown Prince distributed the 
prizes of merit, a number of handsome books, all of 
which were in the English language. The Presbyter- 
ian mission have several schools in Bangkok, one at 
"Wanglan, for girls, where the ladies in charge have 
accomplished much good, among their scholars being a 
young Princess, the daughter of Prince Dumarong. 
Unfortunately, after passing through the school and 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 45 

being thoroughly instructed in the tenets of 
our religion and learning the English language, 
many of the pupils do but little good, 
becoming the mistresses of foreigners, but few of them 
devoting their time to teaching. The school at Sam 
Ray is for boys, and quite a number of young men 
have been educated there who are now filling lucrative 
positions. Some are ostensibly Christians, but the old 
leven of Buddhism clings to them. As it is unpopular 
among the Buddhists to become a Christian, these 
young men have no religion and will eventually drift 
back into the belief of their parents. This is not the 
fault of the missionaries, no people w^ork harder than 
do these devoted followers of our Lord ; they are sow- 
ing seed for future usefulness ; they are teaching the 
Siamese the necessity and benefit of education ; their 
schools in Bangkok, Petchaburee and in the Lao coun- 
try are but so many landmarks on the highway to per- 
manent success. Like the gentle fall of dew upon the 
parched herbage, it tends to a golden harvest, and in 
the years to come they will realize that their 
labors have not been in vain. Many of these work- 
ers in the cause of their Master now sleep beneath the 
waving palm of that land of sunshine and flowers, 
others have returned with impaired health, but the 
coronal of worthy deeds belongs to them— they, at least, 
have done their duty. 

All of the inland traffic is done by boats that ply on 
the rivers and canals, the Menam at Bangkok being 
covered with them, ladened with produce of every 
kind, cattle, horses, rice, fruit, fish, wood,water and rice 
jars, groceries, dry goods, silks, lamps, china ware, 
lime for betel, chickens, ducks, eggs, onions, coal oil, 



46 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

hides, liquor, and, in fact, everything that is market- 
able. The boats are built of large teak logs, hollowed 
out, with cabins covered with attap or bamboo in 
which the owner lives and rears his family. These 
boats are propelled by long oars, the women as well as 
the men being adepts in rowing, while the bright eyes 
of a brood of little ones can frequently be seen peering 
through crevices in the cabin. Produce is thus brought 
down a distance of from four to five hundred miles 
from the interior when the water is at the 
proper stage, the canals having to depend on the 
rivers to flood them, as they have no locks and are on 
a level with the streams. The canals connect with all 
the rivers that flow into the upper gulf, so that the 
waterways of -Bangkok are the most elaborate and far 
reaching of any city in the world, and each year they 
are extended farther and farther into the interior, 
which, while it adds to the mileage of the waterways, 
increases the acreage of rice fields, the law being that 
all land reclaimed and made tillable shall be exempt 
from tax for a certain number of 37 ears. This is a 
great inducement to open up land, and many Burmese 
and Chinese are availing themselves of the privilege, 
as rice is a staple product and finds ready sale at the 
capital. 

Unlike other portions of the orient, the w^omen of 
Siam are not trammeled with caste or required to 
keep themselves secluded. While polygamy is 
indulged in by the King and many of the nobles, the 
chief wife is considered the head of the family, her 
word is the law of the household, the others are 
termed lesser wives. Should a Siamese head wife, or 
wife proper, refuse to allow her husband to take a 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 47 

lesser wife, he could not do so ; should he persist, 
against her protest, she can then demand a divorce and 
the property belonging to the family must be divided 
equally between the husband and wife. Such divorces 
are very rare, the chief wife looks upon the lesser 
wives as so many appendages to her rank, and when 
she goes abroad they all follow, and she is as proud of 
showing them as the stately dames of European courts 
their jewels. The King has forty-seven wives ; his 
chief wife and mother of the Crown Prince is his half- 
sister; the law of Siam making it incumbent on His 
Majesty to thus marry in the family, so that when his 
heir is born he thus preserves the pure blood, celestial, 
as it is termed, none other being eligible to succeed 
him. His other wives are members of the leading fami- 
lies, one of the last being the daughter of the King of 
Changmae, a handsome Lao princess. As the output 
of so many wives it was reported that the King had 
ninety-six children and that he was a very affectionate 
father. It is seldom that the lower order have more 
than one wife, and from -what I have observed of the 
natives the women rule the ranch, the husbands being 
afraid of their active tongues, and no more outspoken 
viragoes live than the women along the Menam. The 
Siamese language is one well adapted to invectives and 
indecency, and the tirade that they pour forth in a 
moment of passion is terrible, and they are easily 
aroused. If well treated the Siamese women make 
good wives ; they are industrious, love their children, 
and are not as immoral as one would suppose, consider- 
ing their surroundings. No regular marriage ceremony 
is observed among the peons ; two young persons are 
brought together by an old nurse or member of the 



48 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 



family, the young man sees the girl and if he likes her 
he pays the parents or guardian from one hundred to 
five hundred ticals, one-half of which is used in giving 
a feast to the family and friends of the contracting 
party, the other to the girl for the purpose of going to 
housekeeping. When the feast is prepared the bride, 
arrayed in silk panung, white linen jacket with gold 
buttons, a bright silk scarf thrown across her shoulder, 
and her black hair dressed with flowers, gold chain and 
bracelets, waits for her lord and he oomes forward, 
takes her by the hand and presents her to his parents 
as his wife, both prostrating themselves with their faces 
to the floor ; the priests sprinkle them with holy water, 
read a few lessons from the writings of Buddha, and 
she is then received and acknowledged as the wife of the 
bridegroom, I have been assured that the taking of a 
second wife requires no ceremony, the fact of so many 
ticals having been paid for the girl and she having been 
taken to the house of her purchaser being considered all 
that was needed. Notwithstanding this state of affairs, 
immorality is not so prevalent in Siara as in most 
Asiatic kingdoms. Strict followers of Buddha, they 
obey his tenets and believe in his code of morals. Pros- 
titution exists to a great extent in the large cities, the 
bawdy houses in Bangkok being licensed; but the 
revenue derived from this unholy traffic is not placed 
in the general treasury, but used for the purpose 
of repairing and opening up new roads. The women 
are finely formed and as graceful as a Greek statue, 
with small hands and feet, but they are not handsome; 
exposure to a tropical sun without bonnets has bronzed 
them, their dark hair and sparkling eyes redeem their 
flaccid features, but their mouths are horrible, the chew 




Her Majesty, the Supreme or Celestial Queen. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 49 

ing of betel has ruined their shape and their gums and 
teeth are as black as ebony. During my stay in Bang- 
kok I saw only a few handsome women, my observa- 
tion being mostly of those I met on the road, princi- 
pally peons. The wives and daughters of the nobles 
are refined and handsome, but they are nearly all small 
and diminutive, as will be noticed by the likeness of the 
Supreme Queen. At a garden party, given by His 
Majesty, he was present with a number of his Queens, 
all of them handsome women, tastefully dressed and 
sparkling with magnificent jewels; none of them wore 
hats, their hair was ornamented with flowers, their vel- 
vet jackets fastened with gold buttons. On another 
occasion I noticed eight of the Queens on their way to 
"Wat Sa Ket to attend a cremation, four each in open 
carriages. They were handsomely costumed, wore 
magnificent gems, heavy gold chains, and were escorted 
by a squadron of lancers; they chatted merrily as their 
carriages swept onward to the cremation grounds, their 
bright eyes taking in the busy scene, bearing themselves 
as high-born dames and wives of a supreme monarch. 
They were a type of the Siamese seldom seen abroad, 
lithe of limb, fashioned as superbly as was the dark- 
browed Cleopatra when she held the Roman Ccesar in 
her meshes, but they, too, chewed betel, and lips 
parched by this astringent are never kissed; that is a 
part of the love-making of the Siamese that is neglected. 
Mothers never kiss their children, lovers their sweet- 
hearts, husbands their wives ; instead, they rub their 
faces together as if they were smelling, and those that 
are addicted to eating capit in their curry or indulging 
in a durian smell to heaven. Capit is made by pressing 
salt and prawns together, allowing the mixture to 



5® THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

stand until it becomes putrid and it is then used 
to flavor curry. The durian is considered 
the best fruit on the coast. It is shaped like a melon, 
green, with huge spikes on the hull, which has to be 
cut open with a knife or hatchet, inside of which is a 
creamy substance of the consistency of a custard ; this 
is eaten with a spoon, and those that have a cultivated 
taste for it assert that it is the most delicious fruit that 
grows, but the smell is terrible, outrival] ing Limburger 
cheese. 

A curious custom prevails among the women, dusting 
themselves with powered saffron, which they also sprinkle 
over their children, giving them a golden appearance. 
The reason given for this practice is it keeps them cool 
and is an antidote for mosquito bites ; but it is their 
great desire to have light complexions, and this aids 
them to do so. The lacon girls, that posture in tlie 
theatres, rub lime juice on their faces which gives them 
a Avhite appearance, but, with their black mouths, ren- 
ders them hideous. 

The lacon or Siamese theatre is peculiar to the coun- 
try. The actors, with the exception of a few clowns, 
are females, the principal performance consists in pos- 
turing, though they have a number of plays in which 
the Siamese are always victorious. The performers 
squat at one end of the room, which is fitted up as a 
stage, and they have but little scenery. When they 
wish to represent a forest a performer brings on a 
couple of trees painted on canvas, when cavalry is 
needed three or four of the girls appear with little tin 
horses which they hold by their sides and gallop round 
the stage. During their battles, when a person is 
killed she lays on the floor for a minute or so, then gets 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 61 

up and walks away. At times the' clowns get off 
witticisms and vulgarisms that please the crowd squat- 
ting round, most of whom are women. The girls are 
handsomely costumed, all barefooted, well trained and 
are as lithe and graceful as the human form will per- 
mit. They posture in every imaginable shape and 
bend the fingers of their hands, which are tipped with 
gold nails, back until they rest on their wrists. Dressed 
like nats or angels, they wear tall, peaked crowns 
similar in shape to that worn by the King on 
state occasions; some of them sport costly jewels, having 
lovers who lavish presents on them like their western 
sisters of comedy, the leading lady at the Prince's 
theater being quite an artist. Their performance is not 
in the least immodest, and well worth seeing once or 
twice, after which it becomes monotonous ; but I was 
informed by those that understand the language that 
the witticisms of tlie clowns and many of the lines 
spoken by the girls would have disgraced Billingsgate 
in ancient days. During one of the evenings that I 
attended a brass band performed various airs, among 
them "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Dixie;" others 
kept up an ear-splitting noise by beating two sticks 
together. The King has a company of lacon girls in 
the palace, who perform in the palace grounds during 
state ceremonials. While traveling in the interior I 
witnessed performanc es at Ratburee and Petchaburee 
which were intended for merit, the companies having 
been hired to perform by some one who had made a 
vow while sick to give a lacon to celebrate his recov- 
ery. They were held on the public square, where a 
stand had been erected out of some rough teak planks, 
decorated with colored tissue paper, on which was 



52 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

placed a roasted hogshead dyed purple, canumb, fruit, 
rice, flowers, joss sticks, lighted lamps, and other 
trumpery, before which the actors postured to the 
edification of the squatting crowd who will set for 
hours on their heels watching the performers. The 
food and other things were placed there for the spirits 
to partake of, and if it was not eaten by them before the 
performance was over, which lasted till sunset, it was 
taken home and eaten by the girls. Nearly all of the 
Princes have companies of these girls, and it seems as if 
the natives never tire of witnessing their performance. 
Entering the wat at Petchaburee I noticed a large pile 
of toys, three or four figures of lacon girls made out 
of baked clay, pasted on a piece of wood, also some 
hanofing on bushes, and was informed that that 
was the way some of the natives took to cheat 
the gods, that when a lacon was promised by a 
man when he was sick he compromised the 
matter with his conscience when he became well 
by purchasing one of these clay lacons and 
then hang it np on a bush or place it in a wat remark 
ing " that is the way to fool him," meaning the god 
whom he had supplicated when sick. Others purchase 
a small statue of Buddha and place it on the altar in 
one of the temples, where it remains until it becomes 
old and dingy, when the priest throws it into a corner. 
I have seen several hundred of them thus piled up, 
having been cast aside. 

Traveling between Bangkok and Petchaburee the 
boat is rowed across an arm of the gulf to the mouth 
of the Petchaburee river, a beautiful stream fringed 
with ferns and palms. Peaching there just as the sun 
was setting we ran our boat ashore and our servants 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 5,3 

commenced preparing dinner, when all of a sudden the 
boat was surrounded by several hundred monkeys and 
apes of all sizes, who kept up an incessant chattering, 
fighting and quarreling. A gray-headed old fellow, 
about five feet in height, seemed to be the leader and 
had a special spite at one nearly the same size. "We 
threw bananas, potatoes, rice and various things to 
them as they swarmed down to the boat, apparently 
under the charge of the leader. Soon the lesser ape 
secured a half of a cocoanut and ran off with it up a 
tree; the leader missed him and, seeing the culprit 
seated upon a limb enjoying his meal, made a rush 
after him and then they had it, very much to the delight 
of the boat boys who were watching them. After a 
severe tussle they both fell to the ground clawing one 
another in their rapid descent. It was remarkable 
how the mother monkeys cared for their little ones, 
which they carry between their fore legs with their 
small black faces sticking out and clinging fast for dear 
life. After eating all that we could give them some of 
the monkeys trotted off to the beach and washed their 
hands and faces and ran their paws through their hair 
as cunningly as if they had been human beings. The 
Siamese never injure a monkey, they believe that the 
spirit of the dead go into them ; hence they are tame 
and some of them very intelligent. A native christian 
preacher, who resides near the mouth of the river, 
while pkssing along heard a peculiar noise as 
if some one was in distress, and hastening to the place 
from where the noise proceeded discovered a monkey 
holding on to a bush, with his tail immersed in the 
water, uttering the most mournful cries. The poor 
animal turned on him a look of entreaty, and catching 



54 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

hold of it he found that its tail was clutched fast by a 
large crab. The monkey had been in the habit of 
switching its tail in the water, to induce a crab to take 
hold of it, then it would jerk it out with the crab 
attached, and thus secure a meal; butin this instance he 
had caught more than he had bargained for. Passing 
along one of the canals my attention was called to a 
number of monkeys crossing the waterway. They had 
formed a bridge of their bodies across the canal, by 
catching hold of hands and swinging over from the top 
of a tail tree. The bridge once formed, the others 
scampered across; the leader on the side they had 
crossed to ran up the tree as high as he could go, car- 
rying the chain or bridge wnth him, then the monkey 
who had clutched the tree on the side that they had 
left let go and swung across. As our boat approached 
they sat in the trees and chattered, wanting us to 
throw something out for them to eat. Monkeys of all 
kind abound in Siam, from the orang-outang to the 
tiny black monkej'^, only a few inches in height; but 
the rarest of all is the white ape, found in the deepest 
solitudes of the jungle and looked upon by the natives 
as sacred, the tabernacle of some great nobleman's soul 
or possibly a Buddha ; in fact, all white animals are 
held in high esteem, white being their emblem of pur- 
ity. 

The vast jungles abound in all kinds of tropical ani- 
mals, ranging from the royal tiger, which is as large as 
an ox, down to the most ferocious wild cats and bears. 
Cheetahs, leopards, deer and other animals can be 
found close to Bangkok, and afford sport to the adven- 
turous hunter who is willing to brave the miasma of 
the forest in pursuance of his sport. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 5S 

Among the dank vegetation of the jungle venomous 
and other serpents abound, the largest of which 
are the python and the boa, many of them over 
forty feet in length, and are killed by 
the natives for their skins, which are taken to China 
and tanned, the leather being used in the manufacture 
of musical instruments and fiddle strings ; the flesh is 
also regarded as a dainty, the natives having an idea 
that it gives them strength and is a remedy for the 
many ills that they are heir to. The hooded cobra is 
one of the most venomous, but there are scores of them 
lurking in the shade and slime that would prove deadly 
if they should strike a person with their fangs, among 
them one about a foot in length; beautiful to look at, 
whose bite is so fatal that death almost follows 
instantly, and it is dreaded by all, as it is frequently 
found coiled up in a basket of fruit ; among the most 
curious is one that has a head at each end, but the most 
singular is the bull snake, a small reptile about four 
inches long with a head shaped like that of a bull, 
which lies in the grass unobserved, and its bite is more 
like the pricking of a thorn than anything else, which, 
if unheeded till next day, will cause the victim to swell 
rapidly; then, if heroic measures are not at once resorted 
to, death will soon follow. I do not think that there 
is another spot on our planet that can discount the 
jungles of Siam or her gulf and rivers in snakes, nine- 
tenths of which are venomous ; but, notwithstanding 
such is the fact, but few of the natives are bitten, 
and it is seldom that one hears of a death from their 
sting. To realize the number of these reptiles, a visit to 
the King's palace at the mango gardens will suffice, 
where there are many preserved in alcohol, others dried. 



66 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

In some parts of the kingdom alligators abound, speci- 
mens of which can be seen at "Wat Po and at the King's 
garden, where they are kept by the priests to exhibit 
to the curious who pay a small amount to see them fed. 
They are very much like the alligators of our Southern 
lagoons, but are looked upon by the natives as some- 
thing remarkable and with great dread. It is their 
belief that they subsist on children, and I was told of 
many instances where children were taken out of their 
cradle by these hideous monsters, but found that there 
was no truth in them. 

There are more than forty kinds of snakes, some few 
of which inflict deadly wounds with their tails, but the 
most venomous is one from ten to twenty feet in length 
that has the power of reflecting prismatic colors, and 
another, about seven feet in length, it is reported, is so 
poisonous that it kills every living thing it touches 
when excited, such as trees, grass, etc., and when dead 
the poison which was imparted to them will dart into 
the hand or foot of any one that may come in contact 
with* it. Boas frequently come iiito Bangkok. Early 
one morning I heard a great outcry in front of the 
Legation, and upon inquiring the cause learned that a 
large boa was coiled up in the branches of a banyan 
tree, trying to catch a peacock, that the noise was occa- 
sioned by the boys in attempting to capture it. After 
firing at it several times it uncoiled slowly from the 
limb and fell with a terrible plunge into the river, 
nearly capsizing a Chinaman's boat who was looking 
on. It could not have been less than thirty feet in 
length. It is said that the boas found in the city are 
but puny fellov^^s compared with those in the jungle, 
which are from fifteen to thirty cubits in length, with 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 57 

a girth around the middle, when not particularly filled, 
of from thirty to fifty inches. They feed on deer and 
other large animals which they charm, crush in their 
coils and swallow whole. According to the natives 
they are amphibious, live also on fish and have the 
power of dipping canals and shallow ponds dry when 
seeking food. They also believe that in all the great 
rivers there is an animal they call ISTguak-ngoo, similar 
to a snake, but having a head like a woman, with long 
hair, a regular mermaid. It ranges in length from 
thirty to fifty feet, and its bite is fatal, not poisonous, 
but it has the power to suck all the blood out of the 
body of a man or animal when they drag them to their 
subaquatic caverns; hence, when a body disappears and 
does not rise in the river and float they say a Nguak 
has got it. All kinds of spirits are supposed to dwell in 
the rivers, and offerings are frequently made to them. 

Birds of the rarest plumage abound throughout Siam, '^ 
but few are songsters. High in air fly innumerable 
gulls, on airy pinions, flashing like brilliant jewels in 
the dazzling sunlight. When evening comes and the 
shadows fall the air is filled with crows wending their 
way to their roosts^in the tall trees that embower 
some wat. Myriads of little sparrows fly through the 
verandahs and nest in the ceilings and curtains of your 
home ; parrots and paroquets flash their gorgeous plum- 
age amid the foliage of the banyan and tamarind trees; 
humming birds, with tremulous wings, suck the sweets 
from fragrant flowers, pelicans sit moodily on the 
banks of river or canal with pouch filled with fish, and 
the miner bird, the rarest of its species, with ebon 
plumage and gold band around its neck, talks as 
fluently as if of humankind. Hanging on trees can be 



58 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

seen hundreds of curiously fashioned cones, about a 
foot in length, woven from straw and bark by a small 
bird about the size of a swallow, their nests, into which 
they enter at an aperture near the bottom so as to pro- 
tect the inside from rain or the depredation of hostile 
birds, who would otherwise rob their dwellings. 
Along the coast and islands is a small_swallow that 
makes its nest out of sea-foam, which it gathers with 
its bill and blows on a rock in a cave or crevice and 
keeps at its weary work until it forms a perfect nest, 
in size and shape of that of a sparrow, in which it lays 
its eerers. These nests seem to be made of gelatine and 
are eagerly sought for by the denizens of the coast and 
sold in Bangkok and China for several dollars an ounce, 
being worth more than five times their weight in silver, 
some of the nests weighing three ounces. The Chinese 
esteem them a great delicacy, but they are tasteless 
and when converted into a liquid can be flavored to 
suit the taste. Out in the jungle are hundreds of 
birds not to be found in the groves in and around 
the capital city, such as the adjutant, a gigantic 
crane, wiiich stands on his legs six feet high ; the bird 
of Paradise, white and blue peacocks, jungle fowl, the 
progenitors of our chickens, geese, cranes, snipe, and a 
demi-crane, about the size of a raven, dazzling white, 
with yellow legs and bill ; tukans, cockatoos, 
owls and many others quaint and curious, living 
rainbows in color and animated gleams of glory. A 
collection of the birds of Siam would be invaluable, 
many of them unknown to the naturalist. 

No portion of the world is more plethoric with 
fish than the waters of this favored land, its gulf, 
rivers and canals teeming with them, many rare 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 59 

and curious. One of the most valuable is the 
platoo, a fish about the size of our herring, 
which is caught in immense quantities in the 
gulf, and after being cured by the peculiar process 
of steaming and salting they are shipped to Singapore 
and the islands south. It is one of the most delicious 
pan fish ever cooked and is very popular in Bangkok. 
Pla tapeng, a large fresh-water fish, is also much 
sought after, as is the pla chado. The Siamese smoke 
and dry a good many fish, and boats filled with them 
can be found on the river and along the canals where 
they are retailed to the natives. As they are very 
salty purchasers use them for seasoning their rice. For 
this purpose the pla hang is most in demand, similar to 
our herring, also the pla kooron and the pla chalamet. 
Large numbers of prawns and crabs are sold cheap, as 
in fact are fish of all kind. Most of those disposed of 
in Bangkok are brought up from the gulf in row boats, 
a distance of thirty-five miles, which the fishermen 
make in a few hours. Oysters abound in the gulf, but 
they are small, about the size of a nickle, yet, when 
cooked, are finely flavored, in some of which pearls 
are found ; muscles and other shell fish are gathered in 
abundance along the shores of the gulf and islands, the 
bottoms of vessels soon becoming covered with them. 
While on the coast I was shown many curious and rare 
specimens of fish, some as round as a ball with spikes 
like a porcupine, others with heads like a cow, and had 
a chance to notice the antics of the climbing perch, a 
medium-sized fish, which will climb up a bush or plank 
to catch a fly. When the tide falls it makes a 
round basin a foot or more in diameter, by throwing 
up mud with its mouth, which will hold water 



60 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

sufficient for its wants till the tide rises ; during the 
interval it skirmishes round in the mud for food and 
when it meets a fellow a battle royal takes place, fight- 
ing fiercely, frequently injuring one another. I have 
seen thousands of them at a time making their little 
reservoirs. Anotiier curious fish is the spitting perch, 
about two inches in length, and when a fly or other 
insect lights near it it shoots a drop of water from its 
mouth with great accuracy and rarely misses its mark, 
thus securing its food. The fighting fish I have spoken 
of elsewhere. In the aquariums of the nobles can be 
found some very rare fish, brought from Japan and 
China, gold fish with six and seven tails beautifully 
marked, and when swimming in a glass globo or in the 
basin of a fountain seem more like the creation of 
fancy than a reality. A very peculiar fish is found in 
the rice fields, when they are flooded, with skin and 
color similar to a cat-fish. They are very numerous 
and boat-loads are brought to market. The musical 
fish is unknown outside these waters; it is smaller than 
a minnow, and hundreds of them will fasten themselves 
on the bottom of a boat or other hard substance and 
keep up a noise like drumming, to the uninitiated it 
sounds like weird music coming up from the depths of 
the waters. Man}'" of the gulf fish weigh from ten to 
fifteen pounds, and no banquet is considered complete 
without a pla ohado or a pla tapong. Prawns, also, 
enter largely into the diet of the Siamese, especially 
for curries and the manufacture of capit ; in fact, the 
finny tribe is one of the essentials for the sustenance of 
the people, as many have but little else but fish and 
rice to subsist on. Frogs of all kind abound, from the 
tiny toad to the mammoth bull-frog, and the nights are 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 61 

made hideous by their croaking ; the natives consider 
them good eating and catch large numbers. One of 
the rarest of the species is the whistling frog, which 
always pipes his notes before a rain and whistles melod- 
iously. It is very rare, and the only one that I ever 
heard was in the banyan tree in the American Legation 
grounds. Many were skeptical in regard to this frog 
till they heard it whistling. 

Insects and reptiles find a Paradise in this sun-kissed 
land of verdure, every bush and shrub is a habitation 
for them ; but a strange thing is to be noted, that save 
during the durian season but few flies can be seen, no 
lice, scarcely any roaches or fleas, but a world of ants, 
red, black and white, the latter the most destructive of 
the species. Wherever they find a lodgment they 
destroy everything that comes in their way, books, cloth- 
ing, furniture, wood of all kinds. Many valuable arti- 
cles have been destroyed by these pests before it was 
known that they had made an inroad, and eveiy one is 
on the lookout for them ; they are the curse of the coun- 
try. To new comers the chin choke and tokay are very 
annoying, but harmless. They are lizards and infest 
every dwelling; the first is about six or eight inches in 
length, the latter a foot and over and derives its name 
from the way it utters its cry " tokay," which can be 
heard a long distance. They are beneficial about a 
house, when one becomes accustomed to them, as they 
destroy mosquitos and insects. On one occasion I saw 
a tokay capture a bat, after a long struggle, and eat it 
with much gusto. Chameleons run up and down the 
trees, changing color as they come and go, peering at 
you with their sparkling eyes. Butterflies and moths 
flit about and some of the latter are of immense size: 



62 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

[ one that I sa\v measured, from wing to "vving, was 
\ found to be overjiine inclies, a thing of beauty, bril- 
liant with gold and purple and emerald. Among the 
rarest of the insect kingdom is the leaf fly. It is a 
perfect leaf, green as if just plucked from the parent 
stem, about the size and shape of a green briar leaf, 
and it astonishes the beholder when he goes to pick one 
up to see it glide away, and it is only by catching one 
and examining it that you realize that it is one of 
nature's strange freaks. Another is called the bamboo 
bug, resembling a small section of bamboo so perfectly 
that when you stoop down to pick it up and feel it slip 
through your fingers and hide itself in the grass 
you find yourself wondering what kind of creation 
it is. Shortly after a shower, when the rain 
first sets in, the air is filled with winged ants, that come 
up out of the ground, and they remind 3'^ou of flying 
snow-flakes during a storm, pouring in streams through 
doors and windows, choking the lamps, as sometimes 
do the millers and candle flies, at night, but the great- 
est nuisance is the festive mosquito. He sings most 
loyally the same song in the valley of the Menam that 
he does on the Jersey flats and runs his bill in the 
liveliest manner. For a year or two he fattens on 
strangers, then one becomes inoculated with mosquito 
virus and he seeks daintier food ; but he is a bloated 
aristocrat and frequently contains some of the best 
blood of Bangkok in his corporosity. Spiders innu- 
merable and of gigantic proportions spread their 
glittering webs on all sides and find their way to every 
portion of the dwelling houses, all colors, kinds and 
sizes, many of them poisonous, but the natives pay but 
fittle attention to them. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 63 

The fruit of Siam. comprises everything that grows 
in a tropical climale: Oranges, limes, pampelmos, 
citrons, pomegranites, bananas of all kinds, cocoanuts, 
tamarinds, bale fruit, makroot or fragrant lime, jack 
fruit, mangoes, linchee, maprang, a grape-like fruit ; 
pine apples, water and musk mellons, rose apples, 
durians, bread fruit, satawn, mangosteens, look 
sala, custard apples, guavas, klooi kei, champoo 
daang or red rose apples; look lamoot, a sweet 
plumb ; lookk cheeop, Rochelle fruit and many 
others that are daily offered for sale in 
boats and in the bazaars. The illustration of fruits 
gives but a few of the many fruits of this prolific sec- 
tion, in whicli should be included the betel nut and 
palm fruit. The betel to the Siamese is what tobacco 
is to the western nations or opium to the Chinese. 
Fruit is very cheap, especially bananas, which go 
largely to make up the daily food of many families. 
Vegetables of all kinds are raised in the gardens 
adjacent to the city, which are irrigated during the dry 
season, and the markets are thus daily supplied in 
abundance, but the best cabbage and white 
potatoes are brought from China. Indian corn, 
small ears, is plentiful and roasted on furnaces is sold 
on the avenues by vendors ; turnips, radishes, tomatoes, 
onions and garlic, beans, peas, etc., grow in profusion. 
Tobacco is raised in small quantities in various parts 
of the kingdom and would be more extensively culti- 
vated were it not for the excessive tax demanded by the 
government, ten per cent, on the crop. Cotton is 
gathered from large trees, forty and fifty feet in 
height; the fiber is short but is used in filling mattresses, 
pillows and cushions, but the natives spin considerable 



64: THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

of it into cloth and use it for other purposes ; the finer 
sort, vegetable cotton, is also cultivated in the Lao 
states and parts of the lower country and called paw. 
It also pays a tax of ten per cent. Cattle and hogs are 
raised in great numbers, and butcher shops can be 
found in various parts of the city, as meat is sold in all of 
the bazaars; mutton is expensive, the sheep are imported 
from China and it retails at 35 cents per pound, while 
other meat sells at eight and ten cents. The beeves 
are small with a hump on their shoulders and are 
exhibited in the menageries as the sacred cattle of 
Burmah; they are about the size and color of a Jersey, 
but are never used for milk, the natives being too indo- 
lent to milk them. The hogs are large, of all colors, 
sway backed, and their flesh is superior to any other 
pork, according to western taste. Chickens and ducks 
are cheap, hatched by the thousand in paddy (rice) 
husks, and the duck farms are worthy a visit from the 
curious in such matters, the owners feeding their 
large broods on fish and other offal. Some turkeys 
are raised, but the price asked is so high, $10 apiece, 
that it is only on state occasions that they are served 
up; but a banquet is considered incomplete without one 
or more to grace the board. Peacocks are also eaten 
and are better than turkeys, but not so expensive. 

The Siamese are adepts in moulding statuets from 
cla}^, which they burn and color. I have seen some very 
handsome, the equal in design to those manufactured in 
Italy. They also mould and make large numbers of 
statues of Buddha, from an inch in height to those of 
mammoth proportions, of bronze, which they gild. For 
over a mile along one of the klongs can be seen numer- 
ous workshops used exclusively for the manufacture of 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 65 

these idols or statues. Porcelain is manufactured in 
many parts of the kingdom, some very handsome, and 
the pottery industry is one of the most extensive in 
Siam. Jars, jugs, pots, pans, furnaces and many other 
household articles are made in immense numbers and 
retailed by peddlers in boats, a large jar holding a bar- 
rel of water selling for fifty-five cents or ats. These 
large jars are used for catching rain water during the 
rainy season, in the place of a cistern, the water being 
used for drinking purposes, that in the river being too 
filthy for use, the refuse of the city being dumped 
into it. 

Chinese artisans abound, workers in gold, silver, cop- 
per, brass or iron ; some of their work is artistic and 
novel, their gold and silver jewelry is very handsome 
and unique, especially that which is set with sapphires 
and rubies. The stones are found in the ruby fields 
that lie adjacent to Chantaboon, a populous city on the 
west side of the gulf, where the pepper plantations 
abound. The iron workers are also very skillful and 
manufacture everj^thing needed out of that useful metal 
which is smelted in the hill country in the most primi- 
tive fashion, but it is of a superior quality, as can be 
seen from the swords and knives fashioned from it. 
Several gold mines have been worked in various parts 
of the country and considerable of the royal metal 
unearthed, both from quartz and placer washings, but 
at present only one is but partially operated; the 
expensive machinery imported for that purpose fast 
falling to decay, and the Europeans in charge under 
standing but little about mining, drawing large salaries 
and doing but little for it in return. The metal used 
in the fabrication of jewelry is pure gold leaf, brought 



QQ THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

from China, and is twenty-two karats fine, too soft for 
general wear, but a vast amount is annually converted 
into chains, bracelets, anklets, rings, ear and finger 
rings, charms, pendants, plate, tea-pots, belts, betel 
boxes, salvers, etc. The wealth of many of the peo- 
ple consists of jewelry, so that no matter what may 
happen they can hold on to their treasure. So far no 
silver has ever been found in Siam, but tin is being 
mined extensively in the Malay peninsula, and it is fast 
becoming an article of commerce, shipped to America 
and Europe 

The main industry is the planting and rearing of rice, 
which is shipped to various parts of the world, and the 
rafting of teak timber down the Menam to be shipped 
abroad; it is also used in Bangkok for the erection of 
buildings, floating houses, bunding, vessels and boats, 
in fact, it is the only timber available for such purposes. 
Bamboo is also extensively used for light structures, and 
is cut in the interior and rafted down the streams. The 
teak forests are located about three hundred miles in 
the interior and are being rapidly cleared up, much of 
the work done by elephants ; these sagacious animals 
dragging the logs to the river and piling them to await 
the annual rise of the water, when the rafts are formed 
and floated down the stream. At one place on the 
river a spirit tax is levied. The bonze and soothsayers 
charge a number of ticals to keep the spirits or lorlei 
of the stream from harming the raftmen, and no native 
will pass that point till these guardians of the stream are 
paid and the raft blessed by a weird and solemn cere- 
mony. At various points government officials levy and 
collect a custom tax as the raft passes, which frequently 
causes delay and litigation, the officials squeezing all that 



THE PEARL OF ASIA.. 67 

the}" can get out of the teak traders, and each one of 
them are required to have his private mark on file and 
properly registered. Dacoits, also, depredate along the 
river and rob the raftsmen and boats, so that at times 
it is hazardous to travel on the stream, and parties 
have to go well armed, as it is better to rely on self- 
defense than to appeal to the native officials, the 
umpers, who correspond with our justices of the 
peace, most of whom are corrupt and incompetent. It 
was the general belief among foreigners that many of 
these officials winked at the transactions of the 
dacoits and reaped part of the profits of their 
brigandage. This state of affairs is well considered one 
of the drawbacks of the country and tends to check its 
growth and progress; no native is safe from the greed 
of rapacious officials ; hence they do not try to accumu- 
late, and their taxes are excessive. The international 
court at Bangkok is a fraud that should be abolished, 
as it is almost impossible to get a case tried, and fre- 
quently when it is heard it takes' months to get a decis- 
ion, and you are never sure of justice. His Majesty is 
trying to remedy this evil, but it is hydra-headed, 
beyond the povrer of a Hercules to remedy. Bangkok 
is well policed and strangers are safer there than in any 
American or European city of metropolitan proportions. 
During my five years stay in that city and trips through 
the country I never heard of a white person being 
molested, and it is my belief that a foreigner could walk 
from one end of Bangkok to the other at midnight and 
not be interfered with. The police are neatly uni- 
formed and numbered and the city laid off into three 
departments, each under the control of a superintendent, 
who reports directly to the mayor, one of the Princes 



68 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

In the native courts native lawyers practice, but 
their idea of law and justice is ver}^ crude and their cli- 
ents are generally badly plucked; when the lawyer is 
paid and the court officials are properly greased so that 
the wheels of justice mav run smooth, there is but little 
left. 

Peonage prevails throughout Siam in its worst form. 
A native once in debt can scarcely ever shake off the 
shackles, he is virtually a slave for life. Prior to the 
reign of King Chulalongkorn a man could sell his wife 
and children and they were subject to arrest for debt, 
but much of that has been done away with and no 
child can now be sold for a longer term than when 
it becomes of age, nor is a man allowed to gamble away 
his wife or children. It is the intention of the King 
to do away with the whole system as soon as his peo- 
ple are ripe for it. He has already done more in this 
direction than any other oriental sovereign, ranking 
him with other great reformers the Alexander of the 
East. He is kind and humane to a fault, and but sel- 
dom is the death penalty exacted for crime among his 
subjects. 

The musical instruments of the Siamese are quite 
numerous and some of them very peculiar, gongs, 
drums, flutes, string instruments, harps, and a crescent- 
shaped instrument fitted up with glasses which, when 
hit with a small wand, m^akes excellent music, the per- 
former sitting on the floor before it ; but the most sin- 
gular is the Lao reed or bamboo organ, which is made 
of fourteen pipes of reed or bamboo of various lengths, 
ranging from six to ten feet,,placed in pairs and fas- 
tened with ribbons of bamboo ; near the base is an oval 
piece of teak or some rare wood, into which the reeds 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 69 

open, the mouthpiece, which is hollowed out with a 
small aperture to blow in. Each pipe has a fingerhole 
immediately above the block and another more or less 
removed from the base, regulating the tone. When 
used the organ is held by placing the hands around the 
block, holding it in an upright position, blowing into 
the aperture, requiring a strong pair of lungs to fill it. 
Its music, when in the hands of a skillful performer, is 
peculiarly sweet and spirit-stirring, its symphony like 
tlie organs in our churches, but not so loud, the strains 
being soft and melting. The young men serenade 
their girls at night with these organs and they are 
adepts at it, some of them very fine performers. The 
Kawng Wong is another peculiar instrument, which 
consists of , from twenty to twenty-five small gongs or 
bells, so r,egulated as to form a perfect scale of notes 
of the same number, and is shaped so as to form three- 
quarters of a circle three feet in diameter, suspended 
by two cords within a neat frame of woodwork, ele- 
vating the circle about a foot from the floor, the per- 
former sitting cross-legged within the circle holding a 
small mallet in each hand with which he taps the gong 
and thus makes the most fascinating music, entirely 
unlike the Chinese, which is anything else but pleasing 
to the ear. 

One of the characteristics of Siam is to be noted, 
especially in the interior. When you call on a high 
noble your approach will be announced by the servants 
all squatting down before you, and when you reach his 
anti-chamber and are ushered into his presence they 
all fall on their hands and knees before him, with their 
faces to the floor and do not dare to look upward. 
When they approach him for the purpose of handing 



70 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

betel or anything else, they crawl forward in a crouch- 
ing manner and always throw their clasped hands up 
before their face, the usual form of salutation. "When 
a Siamese desires to rest he squats down on his heels 
and will remain in that position for hours, 
never sitting on a chair or a bench, and 
when they eat they all squat around the rice pot 
and dip in promiscuously, eating with their fingers. In 
former times every one fell down with his face to the 
ground when the King or a prince passed by ; but His 
Majesty has done away with much of this oriental sub- 
serviency. To him and his father this people are 
indebted for many reforms, religious as well as social. 

In parts of the country exists a singular race 
of beings, known as Jungle people, who hold but little 
intercourse with the outside world, live in the densest 
jungles, build their habitations in the boughs of trees, 
are devil worshipers and have a language peculiarly 
their own, not using over fifty words. They average 
about five feet in stature, are dark copper-colored, have 
no fixed laws; generally reside in villages of from ten 
to fifteen families, which is controlled by an elder or 
head man, whom they obey. Persons who have pene- 
trated the jungle and seen their dwellings could do 
nothing with them, they are very suspicious of strang- 
ers, have no use for or knowledge of the value of 
money, but would at times barter skins for cotton 
cloth and knives ; the former they tear into strips about 
six inches in width, which they wear as a panung, all 
the clothing they use, men and women alike. They 
are but a slight remove from the orang-outang, tne 
great Malayan ape, found in the same jungle, and it is 
thought that they are a remnant of the aborigines of 



THE PEARL OF ASIA, 71 

the country, now nearly died out, pretty near the con- 
necting link between man and beast. It is but seldom 
that they arf seen, they live on fruit and nothing but 
the riirest necessity will cause them to enter a village 
or solicit aid of any kind. Brutal, ignorant, decrepid, 
dirty and dwarfed, they are a type of humanity to be 
found in no other section and are sometimes called by 
the more advanced natives monkev men. At one time 
King Theebaw, of Burmah, had a family of them in 
his palace at Maulmain, It is said that the Malayan 
ape took its name from these jungle people. 

In the country bordering between Siam proper and 
the Lao states are some very fine iron mines, espec- 
ially in the mountainous country of Matabar, where 
can be found a growth of large pine trees, it 
being beyond the teak range, Ben Bor, the 
town in which the miners live, is two days 
travel from where the ore is mined. The ground 
surrounding it being very sterile, the miners imagine 
that the country is infested with evil spirits, and at 
stated periods they go there in bodies of from tvv^o to 
three hundred at a time and carry with them bullocks, 
pigs, fowls, and other things which they offer to the 
spirits as a conciliatory sacrifice, with solemn ceremo- 
nies; otherwise they think that misfortune would over- 
take them. The iron is abundant, but hard to mine, as 
everything is carried on in the most primitive manner. 
When smelted it is conveyed to the towns for sale in 
small pigs on elephants, each animal carrying from four 
to five hundred pounds. The process of working the 
ore, after it is smelted, is very crude. After the young 
men smelt it the old men work it up into articles for 
sale, the young women wielding the sledge hammers, 



72 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

which wei^h from seven to ten pounds, according to 
the strength of the striker, while the old women and 
children prepare the fuel and blow the bellows. The 
forge is a simple apparatus, two bamboos about six 
inches in diameter, set upright a foot in the ground; a 
clay pipe leads fiom them into the fire-place and a 
stick, around which is wrapped a rag, is worked up and 
down the bamboo tubes, forcing the air through the 
clay pipe to a place just under the fire. Charcoal is the 
fuel used, and i t frequently has to be brought a consid- 
erable distance. When going to work the blacksmith 
takes a piece of iron out of the fire with a pair of 
tongues and using a fiat stone for an anvil proceeds to 
fashion it into shape, generally having three strikers, 
who continue to pound away till he bids them cease. 
Men and women smoke large black pipes made from 
the root of a tree, using the strongest tobacco. The 
women are well formed and robust, wear their hair 
long, and when at work are encumbered with but little 
clothing. The}" manufacture swords, elephant chains, 
manacles, mattocks, axes, scissors, knives, etc., which 
always find a ready sale in the bazaars ; some of their 
work evincing considerable skill, especially theirswords, 
which are frequently encased in ivory scabbards elab- 
orately carved and mounted with silver. 




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T. 

AYUTHIA, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL, 

Gen. Grant and other eminent travelers have visited 
Ayuthia, the old capital of the Kingdom of Slam, once 
the residence of a long line of kings prior to the pres- 
ent dynasty. It was destroyed by Burmese invaders 
in 1Y67, since which it has been a place of but little 
importance, noted solely for its ruins, which are massive 
and wide-spread, amply worth the trouble and time it 
takes to visit them. Scattered over the plain can be 
seen the debris of over fifty temples and pagodas, their 
white walls, like sentinels, standing out from the jungle, 
while many others are trellised with a network o£ 
vines, whose bell-like blossoms toss back and forth as 
the monsoon swings the parent stem, lending beauty to 
the scene. 

Most persons now take a steam launch and go up the 
Menam, a distance of only thirty -five miles, to the old 
city, thus saving time. The most pleasant way is to 
take a couple of boats, each rowed by eight men, "con 
ruas," who stand on the deck and push their oars 
through the water; the oars are fastened to row locks 
or posts with a whisp of dry grass; throwing the weight 
of their bodies on the handles of the chow or oar. They 
make good headway against the current, which at times 
is strong. The middle of the boat is covered Avith a 
house for travelers to set or lounge in, as the spirit 
moves one ; when night comes on mosquito nets are 
hung up, mattresses are brought out, the boat moored 

73 



^4- THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

to the bank, and one sleeps as calmly as if in Bangkok, 
no fear whatever. Under the deck of the boat is 
stowed provisions, clothing, rice for the boys, and 
other necessaries; just back of the house the 
cook makes his kitchen and he gets up a good 
meal in a short time, using canned goods or 
fowls ; fruit and vegetables can be obtained en 
route. The trip is anything but monotonous to the 
seeker after strange sights. In company with a jolly 
party early one morning we unmoored our boats, gave 
an order to the con ruas to go ahead, and soon with 
steady strokes we went speedily up stream, on by the 
royal palace with its spires gleaming gloriously in the 
sun, on by wats embowered in greenest of foliage, flit- 
ting by miles of floating houses, passing numerous rafts 
of teak and bamboo, on by villages of common look- 
ing houses and bamboo shanties, many of them built 
on piles out over the river, dodging the many rice and 
provision boats descending the stream, and the small 
canoes rowed principally by women, the only class of 
Siamese that wear hats, which are made of bamboo 
and are about the size of a half bushel measure, fast- 
ened on their heads by strips of the same material, 
peddling all kinds of marketable stuff, who sing out 
the names of the articles they sell : fruit, cakes, bread, 
rice, samshoo (a villainous article of rice whisky), flow- 
ers, dry goods, water jars, lime and betel nuts, lamps, 
china ware, tin and iron ware, stacks of sugar cane cut 
in two-foot lengths, and you can hear the girls at all 
hours singing out " Oi Chen," sugar cane, as they pad- 
dle their canoes alongside, as do the venders of fi-uit 
and sweets. Frequently the boatmen chaff ' the girls 
and then a volley of the most horrible oaths follow, as 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 75 

rough language and indecent epithets come from these 
dwellers on the water as easily as breathing. At noon 
we land at a monaster}^, take possession of a sala, and 
soon the servants have a meal prepared, which is eaten 
with a keen relish under the observation of a score or 
so of half-clad natives, wdio look on and wonder how 
the white strangers can eat so many different things and 
much thereof, his fare being but a small measure of 
rice and condiments, with some fruit or a fish taken 
from the stream. At the close of the repast it is 
amusing to see the little fellows scramble for the empty 
cans and bottles that the servants throw away. Then 
we again take to our boats, soothed by the ripple of the 
waters as they flash by the prow. 

Salas or rest houses are built as a means of merit 
making and are very numerous; they are simple struc- 
tures consisting of a plank or tile floor, a tile roof 
supported by wooden columns, no walls, as the weather 
is always warm, but most of them have seats or benches 
around the sides for persons to lay on ; the Siamese, 
when tired, squats on the ground and sits on his heels. 
Some, built of brick, are handsome and artistic, the 
roof handsomely decorated in true Siamese style with 
elaborate gilding and colored tiles. As night falls a 
cool breeze fans through the windows of the cabin, the 
soft susurrus of the water sounds like a lullaby, and 
from out the dark foliage on the banks come flashes of 
luminous light, whole trees ablaze, lighted up by flre- 
flies, millions glowing at once; then all is dark till the 
flash comes again, making it seem the creation of 
fancy, lovely as a gleam from fairyland. For hours, 
in the gloom, I have watched the flashing of these 
luminous insects, trees fifty feet in height outlined 



76 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

with them, while all around was dense darkness, a truly 
tropical scene that I do not think can be seen else- 
where than in the realms of Chulalangkorn I. 

At daybreak, having moored our boats near a monas- 
tery, we were awakened by the beating of a huge drum 
and the ringing of a large bell, rousing the monks 
from slumber so that they could start out in their boats 
to secure their rice for the day's food. Entering 
their boat they paddle up to a house, hand out 
their rice pot into which a ladle full of cooked 
rice and condiments is placed, together with some 
fruit; the donor, generally a woman, vyeing, i. e., 
raising her joined hands to her forehead, as a mark of 
respect and gratitude to the priesthood — the "Khun," 
or benefactor, as he is designated, who thus gives her 
an opportunity to make merit — while the yellow-robed 
solicitor of alms looks on stolidly, taking it as a matter 
of right instead of accepting it as a favor. The priest- 
hood in Siam is very peculiar. In Buddha's time it was 
the custom of the priests to reward the donors by 
preaching the law or reading extracts from the Pali 
version; now none but the higher order of the clergy, 
who reside in the leading monasteries, know the law, 
in fact, the majority scarcely knows a word of Pali, the 
written language of their church. But few have any 
idea of leading a monasticlif e, most of them remaining 
only a few months in a monastery, in compliance with 
their idea that during a portion of their life they should 
enter the priesthood. After receiving a sufficient 
quantity of food they return to the wat and satisfy the 
cravings of nature. In accordance with their law they 
eat but once a day, in the morning, after which they 
rnust be satisfied with tea and cigars until it is time for 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 77 

them to again go forth soliciting. The church of Siam 
is thus self-sustaining ; it costs the government nothing, 
and a priest is prohibited from accepting money, no 
salary'' being attached to his office ; all are on a common 
level, prince and peasant, all go bareheaded and bare- 
foot, from the King's brother down. 

If it was not for the various villages, wats and boats 
that one passes the trip might prove tedious, as the 
scenery along the banks is not very attractive, palms, 
bamboo, tamarinds, banyan and other trees fringing the 
water; but at every bend you can see nestled amid 
the green verdure a white temple with decorated roof 
and golden spire, or through a rent in the trees a vast 
stretch of paddy fields on which herds of water buffalo 
are pasturing, they being the Siamese beasts of burden ; 
in the distant background can be seen some lofty hills 
that look blue in the ambient air, etherial as a cloud on 
the horizon. About noon our servants shout " Kroong- 
Kao," and the ruins of the old city rise into view; with 
a spurt the boys rush the boats through the water and 
we are soon landed at the sala in front of the Gov- 
ernor's palace, a dilapidated building, and were made 
welcome by one of his retainers, the Governor being 
absent, who led us through the palace grounds, showed 
us the audience room used by His Majesty when he 
visits the ancient city, a dingy place, the throne cov- 
ered with dust, thence to a watch-tower in the garden, 
about one hundred feet high, from the top of which we 
obtained a grand view of the old city and its surround- 
ings, a vast mass of ruins, no effort having been made 
for over a century to stop the ravages of time or restore 
the desecrated temples, a wreck of buildings in "ruin- 
ous perfection;" walls, columns, images, spires and pal- 



Y8 THE PEARL OF ASIA, 

aces covered with vines and tropical foliage, the home 
of venomous serpents, lizards, chamelions and small 
jungle animals. The groves were full of birds, some of 
rare plumage, and the chatter of paroquets was inces- 
sant, while ever and anon, by close watching, you could 
see a inonkey glide from tree to tree, keeping his eye 
on the stranger who was trespassing on his domain. 
At one time tigers roamed through the ruins, but they 
have been scared off since the natives commenced 
using rifles, though at times large tiger-cats have been 
seen prowling through the jungle. 

Since its destruction and abandonment by the pres- 
ent rulers, Ayuthia, " the unassailable," as it was 
termed, has never recovered its former prestige, but it 
is still quite a good-sized place, the modern city built 
mainly on the river and canals, several of which center 
there. It is a good business point for boats ascending 
and descending the river and canals, the traffic being 
mainly in the hands of Chinese. The attractions for 
strangers, outside the many ruins, are two temples, one 
a ruin, and the stockades where wild elephants are 
captured for the King, and at times His Majesty gives 
a grand elephant hunt to which distinguished strangers 
and the diplomatic corps are invited. He gave one 
last year in honor of the visit of the Grand Duke Alexis, 
of Russia, who was visiting Siam on his tour around 
the globe. The first object to attract the attention is 
the "Gold Mountain," the highest and best preserved of 
all the ruins, a typical pagoda, which differs somewhat 
from most of the Siamese towers in having three 
accessible terraces, the highest of which tops the tallest 
trees that surround it ; from it a splendid view can be 
had of the whole country, taking in the rivers and net- 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. Y9 

work of canals whose waters sparkle in the sunshine 
like molten silver. We were told that the ruins of 
over fifty temples and pagodas could be counted from 
its summit, thus carrying out the statement that at one 
time, ere the Burmese came down like a wolf on the 
fold, over two hundred of these stately buildings 
reflected back the glory of the godhead from their 
gilded tapering prachedis. This temple is built of 
brick and is one of the earliest specimens of Buddhist 
architecture. As I could not obtain a photo of it I will 
give a brief description of this still beautiful building. It 
is built in the form called " PhraChedi," which repre- 
sents the primitive tope or relic mound ; based upon an 
extensive square it rises a pyramidal tower in three parts, 
to represent the Buddhist trinity, the world, the Dewa 
heaven, and the Paradise of the formed Brahmis, the 
three tiers being separated by wide terraces ; cornices 
of many forms, round and angular, encircle it in close 
succession, while flutings and re-entering angles reduce 
the squareness of the four corners. Two flights of 
steps lead to the terraces. From the highest terrace 
sixty feet from the ground, rises a tower thirty feet 
in height, of pyramidal form, same as the lower part, 
in which are two niches containing gilt statues of the 
great teacher seven feet in height ; above these niches 
the still tapering tower is without cornices and per- 
fectly smooth for about fifteen feet, then changing 
from a square pyramid to a cone it rises to about forty 
feet to a point, the upper part ornamented with nar- 
row headings or rings, lying close one over the other. 
The tower is solid brick, except a small chamber, which 
at one time must have held relics or a statue of 
Buddha ; it is now empty and the abode of bats. 



80 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

Access to it is from tlie higliest terrace. This is the 
only prachedi or large pagoda that has an accessible 
chamber, though they are frequently found in the 
smaller ones. Several small temples can be seen in the 
new town ornamented with a mosaic of bits of crock- 
ery set in cement representing flowers, animals, nonde- 
scripts and fanciful designs, interlarded with gay 
saucers and plates, bright china birds on the cornices, 
colored and glazed tiles for the roof, at each end of 
which can be seen the ox horn ornaments peculiar to 
Siamese architecture, presenting a gorgeous appear- 
ance at a distance, but, like most modern buildings 
thereabouts, the form and color being good, but the 
material is both common and perishable, hence it does 
not bear close inspection. 

Turning from this monument of a past age we were 
taken to Wat Cheun, built by a Princess of that name. 
It is a conglomerate of buildings and seems to be con- 
trolled by Chinese monks. You enter by a door that 
opens into a Chinese joss house decorated with a fan- 
tastic roof ; inside is the altar covered with tawdry- 
articles and illuminated with lamps and candles that 
fill the room with smoke ; everything is covered with 
it, a greasy -looking priest being in attendance. Passing 
hurriedly through we found a large monastery with a 
" wihan " or idol house and " bort," or holy building 
where the monks assemble for consecrations and other 
religious ceremonies are held; close by were a number 
of small white pagodas, from ten to twenty feet high, 
buiJtfor merit, as they are neither ornamentalnor useful, 
all built alike, a waste of brick and mortar. These 
small pagodas can be found everywhere over the king- 
dom. In close vicinity to the " wihan" are the resi- 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 81 

dences of the priests arid the cremation grounds ; the 
embers of a "burning," as the Siamese term a crema- 
tion, were still glowing as we passed to enter the idol 
house or hall, which is an uncouth-looking structure of 
Chinese architecture ; but the interior is very effective, 
the room being about one hundred and twenty feet 
square and about seventy feet in height; the walls are 
pierced with a fretwork of niches, in each of which 
is a gilt idol about six inches in length, myriads of 
them. On all sides are hundreds of pedestals on which 
are placed statues of Buddha and his disciples in various 
attitudes, most of them life-size. In the center of 
the vast hall, between six huge pillars, plastered 
over with gilding, whose capitals can only be outlined 
in the gloom, on a throne is seated a collossal image of 
Buddha, heavily gilded, in the position of contempla- 
tion, such as the Buddhists delight to portray him, legs 
crossed, the right hand clasping the right knee, the left 
lying palm upward across the thighs, while the massive 
face, as seen in the dim light, appears as if he was 
steeped in meditation, placid and mild, as are all of the 
statues of this great man, and the effect is grand upon 
a stranger as well as on his followers. On the rio-ht 
and left of the Buddha are two standing figures, 
about twenty feet high, representing Sariputra and 
Maggalona, the disciples of the left hand and the 
right hand. The priests in attendance could not 
tell us the exact size of the Buddha, but we were 
assured that it was the largest sitting idol in 
Siam. To judge of its dimensions one of the attend- 
ants climbed up and stood in the palm of its hand, and 
he did not look as large as one of its fingers. I saw 
seven persons stand on the thumb of the reclining Bud- 



82 THE PEARL OF ASIA.. 

dha in the grotto at Petchaburee. This, like most of the 
large idols, is made of brick and cement, covered with 
lacquer and then gilt. All have the same look of supreme 
meditation and placid repose, as if all worldly thoughts 
had been banished from his mind. 

Leaving the gloom of this abode of idols, one could 
almost realize, as he looked around him, ruin piled on 
ruin, that he stood in the Sparta of Siam ; here are the 
vast relics of its former greatness, when its mailed 
warriors battled for this Pearl of Asia in all of its trop- 
ical grandeur. The history of Ayuthia reads like a 
romance ; the crumbling walls and prostrate idols tell 
us the story with mute tongues as convincing as if out- 
lined by a painter's pencil or recorded by historian's 
pen. In the shadow of its ruined fanes, with 
the silence of desolation around you, one can not 
help reflecting that he stands on a spot that 
was once the scene of one of the most sanguinary 
struggles in the East, almost the entire overthrow of a 
arallant people. Here the fairest of Asian flowers were 
crimsoned with the life-drops of brave men, and here a 
great city was literally wiped out, its people captured, 
a Kingdom prostrate at the feet of its captors. This 
occurred over a hundred years since; its ruins attest its 
greatness, and it is well that nature, kinder far than 
man, has hid the rents of ruin with a tapestry of flow- 
ers and clinging vines, making that more beautiful 
which was so, hiding the work of the iconoclast. With 
an eye to the situation, the early founder of this now 
desolated place saw that here in the clasp of a majestic 
river, and the center of an emerald plain, with moun- 
tains in the distance, a city could be built worthy to be 
the capital of this sun-kissed land. His name has per- 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 83 

ished amid the cycles of time that crumbled his capital 
to dust. At his command a city sprung into existence, 
for years it was the center of a vast civilization. It 
grew, flourished, was captured and recaptured, destroyed 
and rebuilt, its people made slaves and its holy places a 
desolation. Years filtered through the hour-glass of 
time, centuries left their impress on field and river, the 
city that had been battled for so long was then known 
as Loweck, the " city of plenty," but in 1350, then a 
mere mass of ruins, it was selected by one of the 
Siamese kings, who was pleased with its site, to 
rebuild it as his capital, and styled Ayuthia. Again 
it was restored to its past greatness; once more it 
became a royal city, and so continued till the Burmese 
invasion. Being almost surrounded by the Menam, it 
was still strengthened with massive walls and on the 
debris of ages, on the foundations of temples that had 
been reared for the worship of now forgotten gods ma- 
jestic wats and palaces were built and along its highways 
and on its canals moved a half million people, its water- 
ways being covered with boats bearing to it the wealth 
of gulf and land. For over four hundred years it bid 
defiance to foes, grew in grandeur and known as the 
" golden city " became an object of envy to the sur- 
rounding nations. At that time Burmah was at the 
zenith of its power, ruled by a grasping monarch who 
resolved to crush his neighbor and put a stop to the 
wars that had been waged between them for centuries. 
Collecting an immense army his generals swept 
onward, a resistless horde, marking their path with 
desolation. Reaching the environs of the doomed city, 
which refused to surrender, hurling back a haughty 
defiance to the invaders, a siege was commenced and 



84 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

for two years every assault was repulsed; but in March, 
1767, the river being low, the Burmese forded the 
Menam, battered down the walls and entered the city 
sword in hand, a tidal wave of ruthless murderers. The 
provisions of the defenders were exhausted, they had 
suffered untold horrors; decimated by disease and star- 
vation, they yielded without further struggle. Then 
followed a massacre, the place was given up to the 
sword and pillage. For days the heavens were lurid 
with the flames of burning palaces, temples and habi- 
tations, the air filled with the frenzied shrieks of its 
devoted people in the agonies of death. The Burmese 
had carried out his stern resolve, Ayuthia was no more. 
Desolation followed, silence replaced the hum of 
the busy multitude, its people made captives, but 
the lieroisra of its defenders lives in history, its site 
is considered hallowed ground, its ruined fanes held, in 
reverence, and a mammoth statue of Buddha, slowly 
crumbling to dust, has its hosts of worshipers. 

In the contemplation of the ruins of this once great 
capital one can realize how the plowshare of time over- 
turns vast metropolises, how here on the confines of 
Asia a tragedy as gigantic as those that befell Car- 
thage, Perseopolis and Thebes has been enacted. 

Amid Ayuthia's crumbled grandeur one can read 
of the civilization and wealth of a people who had a 
well-written code of laws and followed the teachings 
of Buddha while Britain was under the sway of the 
Druids and Greece her Ol3''mpian gods obeyed, 
when the prophets of Israel preached Jehovah and 
gilded Jerusalem with glory, ere the gentle Nazarine 
gave us our code and the Roman legions had destroyed 
its temple and leveled its battlements. The shades of 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 



85 



evening falling fast, we turned to our boats, leaving 
the dead behind us, to mingle once more among the 
living; we had had enough of ruins, as one of the 
party remarked, the whole place was terribly out of 
repair. 




TI. 

DmiNG "WITH THE KING. 

While lying in a chair on the veranda of the Lega- 
tion building, indolently watching the ever-changing 
panorama on the swiftly -flowing Menam covered with 
boats, from the tiny canoe of the ruachong, ferry boat- 
man, to the majestic ocean steamer, and contrasting 
the difference between the land of the prairie and 
the land of the palm, I was aroused by the 
approach of my kavass, a native who speaks English 
and is an attache of the Legation, who, after the usual 
salam, said: " Your Excellency, a messenger from His 
Majesty awaits an audience." " Admit him," and in a 
moment an attache of the Court appeared and bowing 
low presented me with a missive about twelve inches 
in length by eight in width, with the remark " from 
His Majesty;" he then again bowed to the ground and 
retired backward. Opening the envelope I found a 
handsomely embossed card upon which was printed the 
request that I would dine with His Majesty at the 
supreme palace on the following day at Y:30 p. m. I 
immediately sent a reply that it would give me great 
pleasure to do so. 

At the hour mentioned I drove into the outer palace 
grounds and was received by a high Siamese official 
who, expressing himself in good English, informed me 
that he had been awaiting my arrival and was highly 
gratified to receive me. Under his charge I proceeded 
to the palace where Prince Devawongse and others in 

86 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 87 

attendance on the King received me in true oriental 
style. After partaking- of the usual cup of tea and 
refusing a cigar — the Siamese are inveterate smokers — I 
awaited the arrival of the other guests, the Duke De- 
Lucca, Italian Minister to Siam and China ; the English 
Minister, Mr. Satow; the French Charge d' Affairs, 
Count DeKercaradeck, Commodore DeRichelieu and 
Dr. Gowan, physician to His Majesty. Most of the 
guests were resplendent in gorgeous uniforms and wore 
orders, while the representative of the great repubhc 
wore a plain evening dress. The guests having 
arrived, a blare of bugles was heard and we 
were ushered into the banquet hall, one of the 
handsomest rooms that it has ever been my good 
fortune to- enter, the walls and ceiling a mass of fretted 
gold, the elaborate frescoing a work of art, the floor 
covered with a Persian carpet. Magnificent chandeliers 
with wax candles lighted up the place and it looked as if 
some genii had fashioned this superb room in a moment 
of inspiration. Running the full length of the room was 
a table covered with the whitest of damask, down the 
center of which ran a glass canal, made in sections 
about six inches wide and four deep, filled with per- 
fumed water and flowers of the rarest kind. It was 
made so that it enclosed a number of solid silver stands, 
about two and a half feet in height, which held flowers 
and fruit ; the stands represented palm trees and at 
their base were elephants, deer and gazelles enshrined 
in foliage, each stand a masterpiece of Asiatic art. 
The table furniture had on it the monogram of the King; 
the goblets were of the finest Bohemian ware, with 
gilt rims ; the plates and dishes of the finest porcelain 
and the chairs, covered with leather, also bore the 



88 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

royal monogram carved on the top, all of which were 
made to order in Em^ope. Covers were laid for about 
forty, most of the guests being Siamese Princes, Gov- 
ernors and high officials. In the place of a punkah the 
air was kept in motion by eight pages, dressed as 
Scotch Highlanders, who gracefully waved large pea- 
cock fans above the table, which added no little to the 
comfort of the guests. The waiters were dressed in 
swallow-tail coats. At a signal, the King seated him- 
self at the center of the table on the right side, with his 
foreign guests facing him. The menu was quite elab- 
orate, embracing all of the delicacies of the season, 
prepared by a French cook, which were served cold 
with the exception of the fish and soup, as everything 
had to be tasted before being brought to the table so 
that there could be no opportunity to tamper with the 
food to the injury of His Majesty or any of his guests. 
Wine of all kinds was served, and after remaining at 
the table a couple of hours, closing with ices and 
liqueurs, the King rose and we were invited 
to accompany him to his private reception room 
where coffee was served and general conversation 
indulged in. His Majesty listening with considerable 
interest and frequently asking questions that kept the 
conversation from flagging. Though the King does 
not speak English, he understands it perfectly, and 
could do so fluently if he so desired, but prefers to 
express himself in his own tongue, which is then inter- 
preted by one of the Princes or the court interpreter. 
Upon entering the reception room each one was pre- 
sented with a sash of white flowers, woven in the shape 
of a rope, Indian mogaries, the tassel or pendant made 
of a salmon-colored flower, very fragrant. These 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. ' 89 

sashes are worn over the shoulder and hang down on 
the left side and are as fragrant as they are beauti- 
ful. 

"While admiring the sashes His Majesty presented the 
Duke DeLucca with a magnificent crimson rose about 
eight inches in diameter, a marvelous flower, which 
astonished everyone at its mammoth proportions ; it was 
the imperial rose of roses. Upon close examination it 
was discovered to be a manufactured article, each leaf 
was carefully sewed to a center and so deftly was it 
done that it required the closest scrutiny to discover 
that it was not one of nature's choicest productions. 
The natives are very skillful in the fashioning of flowers 
into hanging baskets, chandeliers, wreaths, ornaments 
and bouquets ; they revel in their beauty and seem to 
become intoxicated with their perfume. Flowers are 
used upon every occasion, and they can be found orna- 
menting the lowliest hut as well as shedding their 
fragrance in the palaces of the nobles ; the women 
wreathe them into coronets to decorate their 
children, and they are sold in the bazaars for that pur- 
pose, a large bunch of tuberoses being sold for a 
couple of pennies. I was particularly impressed with 
the skill shown by these people in the manufacture of 
flowers and blossoms, many artificial ones are as hand- 
some as the dew-kissed buds that hang upon the parent 
stem. 

Conversing with his guests for about an hour the 
king rose, shook hands and we retired much pleased 
with our reception, realizing the fact that we had 
been the partaker of a royal feast, having dined 
with royalty, and most agreeably entertained, an even- 
ing that would long be remembered as one of the most 



90 THE PEARL OE ASIA. 

pleasant that I had spent in the Siamese capital. Our 
carriages were in waiting and we were soon driven 
homeward, the guards at the gates saluting us as we 
passed. It is only on special occasions that His Majesty 
invites foreigners to dine with hira. At the table he 
partook of the various dishes as they were passed, enjoy- 
ing the feast ; partook sparingly of the wine, as did all 
of the nobles. The Siamese are an abstemious peo- 
ple, the priests inculcating sobriety, the Queen particu- 
larly so. When her brother, Prince Swatsi, returned 
from England, having graduated at Cambridge, she 
presented him with a palace ; to commemorate the 
event he gave a house warming, and a number of lead- 
ing citizens were invited to be present. After dancing 
the guests were asked to partake of a banquet pre- 
pared in the most lavish manner, and, as usual, the soft- 
spoken servant asked, " "What v^ill you drink ? " 
"' Champagne and soda," he replied, in mournful tones, 
" Your Excellency, there is nothing but Buddhist 
water : lemonade, ginger ale and soda." Her Majesty 
had issued her commands that nothing stronger 
than tea and coifee should be served upon the occasion, 
and her word was law. Most of the younger nobles 
are cultured gentlemen who understand the amenities 
of private life and polite society, but it goes hard with 
some of the older ones to handle a knife and fork 
properly, they having been accustomed to eat with their 
fino-ers, as is the usual mode in Siam. Children of for- 
eign parents reared among the natives assured me that 
rice eaten in Siamese style tasted much better than in 
any other way. Custom is imperial the world over. 




b/3 



VII. 

WONDEEFUL EUINS OF ANGKOE AND 

ISTAGKOK WAT. 

But seldom has a white traveler visited the marvel- 
ous and stupendous ruins of Angkor and ISTagkon "Wat, 
in the sylvan solitudes of Siam, but those who have 
been so fortunate speak with awe of its immensity and 
beauty, remarking that these relics of a past age " are 
as imposing as the ruins of Thebes or Memphis and 
more mysterious." While making a tour of the East, 
Frank Yincent, Jr., in company with Eev. S. I. McFar- 
land, made a visit to Angkor, the first Americans that 
had penetrated the vast wilds of that section, and in 
his " Land of the White Elephant " gives an elaborate 
description of JSTagkon Wat, which has also been 
described by M. Mouhut, whose work he drew liberally 
upon for information, in which he describes this temple 
as " one of those temples — a rival to that of Solomon, 
erected by some ancient Michael Angelo — that might 
take an honorable place beside our most beautiful 
buildings. It is grander than anything left us bv 
Greece or Eome." These ruins are situated in the 
province of Siamrap, eastern Siam, and are described by 
M. Mouhut as of colossal size. The entrance to JSTagkon 
Wat, the main temple, is described as a massive cause- 
way 725 feet in length, paved with hewn stones four 
feet in length by two in breadth, flanked with six huge 
griffins, each carved from a single block of stone, 
leading directly to the main entrance, on each side of 

91 



92 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

which are two artificial lakes covering about five acres 
of ground, the whole structure embowered in the midst 
of a forest of cocoa, betel nut and toddy palms, no 
other buildings in sight but some bamboo huts occupied 
by a few cadaverous priests and slaves who have charge 
of the place. 

At the first glance one is struck dumb at its immen- 
sity, its grandeur and sublimity — the mind grows dizzy 
with wonder at this marvel of the wilds, at the bold 
conception of the genius which planned and the skill 
and patience and labor which executed such a master- 
piece of architecture. The outer wall of the "Wat, 
about a half mile square, is built of sandstone with 
gateways upon e&,ch side handsomely carved and 
as perfect as if did yesterday, with figures of gods and 
dragons, arabesques and intricate scrolls. Upon the 
western side of the main gateway, passing through this 
and up a causeway, paved with slabs or stone, for a 
thousand feet, you arrive at the central entrance of the 
Wat. Its foundations are ten feet in height, massively 
built of volcanic rock. The edifice is composed of 
three terraces; the one about thirty feet above the 
other, including the roof, is of a hard blue stone, but 
without cement, and so closely fitting are the joints as 
to be scarcely discernible. The quarries, where the 
stone was hewn, is thirty miles distant from the build- 
ing, and the immense boulders in the wall and building 
could have been transported only by water, possibly a 
canal having been dug for that purpose. The shape of 
the building is oblong, T96 feet in length and 588 feet 
in width ; the central pagoda rises 250 feet above the 
ground, and four others at the angles of the court are 
each about 150 feet in height. The main entrance is 



1 THE TEARL OF ASIA. 93 

through a columned portico, the facade covered with 
mythological subjects. From this doorway, on either 
side, runs a corridor with double rows of columns, cut 
base and capital, from single blocks, with a double oval- 
shaped roof covered with carvmg and consecutive fig- 
ures on the outer walls. Mr. Vincent says that this 
gallery of sculptures, which forms the exterior of the 
temple, consists of over half a mile of continuous pic- 
tures, cut in basso-relievo upon sandstone slabs six feet 
in width, representing subjects taken from Hindo 
m3'^thology — from the Ramayana — the Sanscrit epic 
poem of India, with its 27,000 verses describing the 
exploits of the god Kama and the son of the King of 
Oudh. The contests of the King of Ceylon and Hanu- 
man, the monkey god, are graphically represented. 
There is no keystone used in the arch of this corridor, 
and its ceiling is uncarved. On the walls are sculptured 
the immense number of 100,000 separate figures (or at 
least heads). Entire scenes from the Ramayana are 
pictured ; one occupies 240 feet of the wall. 
Weeks might be spent in studying, identifying and 
classifying the varied subjects of this wonderful gal- 
lery. You see warriors riding upon elephants and in 
chariots, foot soldiers with shield and spear, boats, 
unshapely divinities, trees, monkeys, griffins, hippo- 
potami, serpents, fishes, crocodiles, bullocks, tortoises, 
soldiers of immense physical development with hel- 
mets and some people with beards, probably Moors. 
The figures stand somewhat like those on the great 
Egyptian monuments, the side partly turned towards 
the front ; in the case of the men one foot and leg are 
always placed in advance of the other, and I noticed, 
besides, five horsemen, armed with spear and sword, 



94 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

riding abreast, like those seen upon the Assyrian tab- 
lets in the British Museum. In the processions sev- 
eral of the kings are preceded by musicians playing 
upon shells and long bamboo flutes. Some of the 
kings carry a battle-axe, others a weapon which much 
resembles a gof-club, and others are represented as 
using the bow ana arrow. In one place is a grotesque 
divinity who sits elegantly dressed upon a throne sur- 
mounted by umbrellas ; this figure, of peculiar sanctity, 
evidently had been recently gilded, and before it upon 
a small table there were a dozen or more joss-sticks kept 
constantly burning by the faithful. But it is almost use- 
less to particularize when the subjects and style of execu- 
tion are so diverse. Each side of the long corridor seemed 
to display figures of distinct features, dress and char- 
acter. The most interesting sculptures, says Dr. Adolf 
Bastian, who explored these wonderful ruins in 1864, 
are in two compartments, called by the natives respec- 
tively the procession and the three stages (heaven, 
earth and hell). "What gives a peculiar interest to this 
section is the fact that the artist has represented the 
different nationalities in all their distinctive character- 
istic features, from the fat-nosed savage in the 
tasseled garb of the Phon and short-haired Lao 
to the straight-nosed Rajaput, with sword and shield 
and the bearded Moor, which gives a catalogue 
of nationalities, like another column of Trajan, in the 
predominant physical conformation of each race. On 
the whole, there is such a prevalence of Hellenic cast 
in the features and profiles, as well as in the elegant 
attitude of the horsemen, that one might suppose 
Xenocrates of old, after finishing his labors in Bombay, 
had made an excursion to the East. These are figures 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 95 

sculptured in high relief ( nearly life-size ) upon the 
lower parts of the wall about the entrance. All are 
females, and apparently of Hindoo origin. The inter- 
ior of the quadrangle bounded by the long corridor 
just described is filled with galleries and halls, formed 
with huge columns, crossing one another at right 
angles. In the Nagkon Wat as many as 1,532 solid 
columns have been counted, and among the entire ruins 
of Ankor there are reported to be the immense number 
of 6,000, almost all of them hewn from single blocks 
and artistically carved. On the inner side of the cor- 
ridor there are blank windows, each of which contains 
seven beautifully turned little columns. The ceilings 
of the galleries were hung with tens of thousands of 
bats and pigeons and other birds have made them- 
selves comfortable nests in the out-of-way corners. 
We pass on up steep staircases, with steps no more 
than four inches in wadth, to the center of 
the galleries, which here bisect one another. There 
are two detached buildings in this square, probably 
used formerly as image-houses, and they now con- 
tain wooden Buddhas, though of recent date. In one 
of the galleries, we saw two or three hundred images, 
made of stone, wood, brass and clay, of all shapes and 
sizes and ages ( some of the large stone idols are said 
to be 1,400 years old), a Buddha's sacred foot, etc. 
Joss-sticks were burning before the largest images, 
which were besides daubed with red paint and partly 
gilded. We walk on across anqther causeway, with 
small image-houses on either hand, and up a steep 
flight of steps, fully thirty feet in height, 
the other galleries crossing each other, in the 
center above which rises the grand central 



26 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

pagoda — 250 feet in height — and at the four corners of 
the court four smaller spires. These latter are much 
dilapidated and do not displaj'^ their full height ; the 
porticoes also bear evidence of the " heavy hand of 
time." Upon the four sides of the base of the highest 
spire are collossal images of Buddha, made of plaster 
and other smaller divinities in various positions. These 
figures of Buddha are grandly placed, for, when the 
doors of the enclosing rooms are opened, from their 
high position they overlook the surrounding country ; 
and the priests of JSTagkon "Wat worship here at the 
present day. There is one more gallery and then we 
come to the outer corridor and pass through a mag- 
nificent doorway to the rear of the temple and walk 
round to our sala, not knowing which to admire the 
most, the vastness of the plan or the propriety and 
grace of the performance. 

Speculation has been rife as to who built Nagkon 
Wat and at what period of time its majestic towers 
were first gilded by a tropic sun. So far no one has 
reached a definite conclusion. Native Cambodians 
date back the time 2400 years, others 1300 years and 
state that it was built by a number of Kiiigs and com- 
pleted by a Buddhist. It is all a matter of conjecture. 
Dr. Bastian says that this temple was built by the 
Cambodians for the reception of the learned patriarch 
Buddhaghosa, who brought the sacred books of the 
Trai-Pidok from Langka (Ceylon). Bishop Pallegoix, 
who wrote a valuable work on Siam, dates the erection 
of this edifice to the reign of Phra Pathum Suriving, 
at the time the holy books of Buddha were brought 
from Ceylon and Buddhism became the religion of that 
section. M. Henri Mahout, who gave the first account 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 97 

of these now celebrated ruins, was of the opinion that 
they were built by some of the lost tribes of Israel. 
In his travels through Indo-China he made many 
efforts to discover Jewish traces in. Siam or Cambodia, 
but met with nothing to confirm his belief but a 
record of the Judgment of Solomon, attributed to 
one of their Kings who had become a god after 
having been, according to their ideas of metemp- 
sychosis, an ape, an elephant, etc., which was found 
preserved in one of the Cambodian sacred books verba- 
tim. It was M. Mahout's belief that the older parts of 
Angkor was over 2,000 years old and the more recent 
parts not much later, and it is his belief that the people 
who erected it have passed away, be they who they 
may. There is no trace of any such people now exist- 
ing among the surrounding nations, and the Abbe 
Jaquenet, a missionary in Cochin-China, writes that 
after the dispersion of the ten tribes, instead of return- 
ing from captivity, they set out from the banks 
of the Euphrates and reached the shores of the 
ocean, and this may be the result of their labor, and, as 
he says, " the shining of the light of revelations in the 
far east is not the less incontestible." I^ative histor- 
ians credit the foundation of Ankor to a Prince of 
Roma or Ruma ; Eoma is familiar to all the Cambodians, 
who place it at the western end of the world. That 
it is of very ancient origin is indisputable ; its crumb- 
ling columns and towers, deeply worn stone stairs, 
absence of keystones in the arches and the undecipher- 
able inscriptions all denote that the waves of centuries 
have passed over its moss-covered and fallen roofs, and 
it would require the lapse of ages for a race to thus 
pass away and leave no vestige of its existence behind 



98 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

save these artistic ruins, positive evidence of another 
people and another civilization. The style of architec- 
ture is peculiar to itself, somewhat resembling the tem- 
ples of India and Java ; there is but little to denote it of 
Egyptian origin, as that is massive and ponderous, this 
is light, airy and graceful. There are no tablets eulo- 
gizing the founder of the "Wat or commemorating its 
establishment; no inscriptions concerning its building 
on its walls, that so far have been translated, though 
there are some that are undecipherable, others that give 
a description of offerings at different times with allusions 
to religious ceremonies and mythological objects; 
among them one of black marble, about five feet square, 
let into the wall of the rear corridor, and from this this 
information has been gained. The inscriptions which 
can not be read resemble the ancient Cambodian or the 
Pali character, but in a more antiquated form. It may 
be possible that same learned savant who has made the 
lore of the East a study will be able to unfold the annals 
of this lost people, if they have ever been written or 
carved on tablet or monument. Christoval de Jaque, 
a Portugese adventurer, took refuge in Cambodia in 
1570 and describes these ruins, stating that at that 
time the inscriptions were unintelligible to the natives. 
To the labors of M. Mauhut, Dr. Bastian and Mr. 
Thompson, an English photographer, are we mainly 
indebted for a description of these wonderful ruins, 
unrivaled as forgotten works of an unknown people. 

About three miles from Ankorare the. ruins of the 
citadel of Taphrom, and near it a wat styled Prakeoh, 
or the Gem tower, a royal and priestly residence. 
Four miles east of Nagkon "Wat are two other remains 
of antiquity: Bakong and Lailan. At the latter 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA, 99 

are several images of Buddha, built of bricks which 
are exceedingly hard and made in a manner 
not now understood by the people of the 
cuantry. They are polished and laid upon each other 
so neatly that no trace of mortar can be discovered. 
The whole valley of the Makong river, to the very bor- 
ders of China, is spread with majestic ruins. Kearthe 
monastery of Prakeoh is an artificial lake built by the 
kings of Patentaphrohm, and surrounded with the 
ruins of pleasure houses for their recreation. It is a 
work of stupendous labor, and Dr. Bastian asserts that 
it would now require the whole population of Cam- 
bodia to raise such a gigantic structure. He describes the 
lakeSasong as being "of oblong shape, about 2,000 feet 
broad and 4,000 feet long, surrounded by a high 
embankment of solid masonry. Some of the blocks 
are fourteen and sixteen feet long and highly finished. 
In convenient places square platforms were built 
overhanging the water, with broad flights of 
steps leading down to it, and in such places 
the huge masses of stone laid on each 
other are embellished by delicate chiselings, bearing 
the figures of serpents, eagles, lions (in their fabulous 
shapes as ISTaga, Kruth, Sinto), on the ends. In the 
middle of the lake is a small island with the remains of 
a palace on it. Of all the figures used for ornaments 
that which occurs most frequently is that of the jN^aga, 
and a Chinese officer who visited Cambodia in 1295 
describes the pillars of the stone bridges as adorned 
with serpents, each of which had nine heads." 

Realizing the importance of these ruins to the world 
and recognizing the hardship and danger that attends 
one in venturing so far into the interior of the country, 



100 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

His Majesty, King Chulalongkorn, has had a model 
made, the reproduction in miniature of Nagkon Wat, 
that at once attracts the attention of beholders when 
they visit the palace grounds. The model is about 
twenty-five feet in length by about twenty in breadth 
and shows the lofty domes, high porticos, majestic 
columns, high flights of stairs and the innumerable 
alcoves and entrances. With the exception of the 
leading towers the model shows the building in a 
remarkable state of preservation, just as it was when 
Mr. Yincent was there. It is hard to realize that that 
was once the capitol of a section of country that 
teemed with an active and energetic people, now 
nothing remains but a crumbling monument of the 
vast power and wealth of a nation apparently now 
forgotten. Aside from its immensity it is a marvel of 
architectural skill, and this model has caused these 
stupendous ruins to be known by many who would 
otherwise have regarded them as a myth or the 
vaporing of some fanciful traveler ; he has thus rescued 
them from oblivion. It was with feelings of awe that 
I contemplated the outlines of this massive building 
now buried in the forest, unknown its builder, its 
legends and history written on its walls in forgotten 
characters and dedicated to a mysticism by a host of 
yellow-robed priests whose religion is a species of for- 
getfulness of which this temple is a true type, 
crumbling slowly to decay. Nature is slowly spreading 
a network of vines and shrubbery over it, bushes are 
springing up where once knelt worshipers and 
Buddha sits enthroned on a gigantic pedestal alone 
amidst the desolation, ignored and almost unwor- 
shiped, as there are but few to do him reverence save 



THE nEARL OF ASIA. 101 

a few cadaverous priests and slaves, living in miserable 
thatched bamboo huts. And this was once the temple 
of the East, the capitol of a mighty people, now the for- 
est trees hide all its grandeur from the world and it is 
only seen by the lone traveler who braves the danger 
of the jungle to feast his eyes on a scene that has no 
parallel on our planet, a mighty monument of man's 
skill, a wonder to all, now a " wreck in ruinous perfec- 
tion.". Absorbed in thought one's memory runs back 
over the gamut of centuries ; from the misty legends of 
the ages fled was evolved the mighty edifices told of by 
historians : of Babel's towers, of Baelbec and Palmyra, 
Troy and Carthage, of Ephesus' proud temple, the 
Parthenon pride of the Peleopenesus, all dust, each 
kingly column shattered, while here another Palenque, 
amid palms and tangled vine and banyan tree, rears its 
stupendous piles toward heaven, unknown its architect 
or kingly builder, silent as the sphinx, but massive as the 
pyramids. The sun of centuries has gilded its spires, 
the winds have sung requiems through its corridors and 
for cycles to come it will stand imrivaled as one of the 
grandest monuments conceived by genius and reared 
by man, before which the Colosseum shrinks as a work 
of art and will rank in majestic proportions with the 
pyramids 



VIII. 

THE SUPREME PALACE AND ROYAL 
TEMPLES. 

Kowhere can be seen a more unique collection of 
buildings than those closely p^rouped together within 
the palace walls of Siam's capital city, the most 
important of which is the supreme palace, the residence 
of His Majesty and his many queens, where he grants 
audiences to the diplomatic corps and receives dis- 
tinguished guests, also, the Princes and officials of his 
realms. The building (as can be seen from the engrav- 
ing) is very handsome, pure white, built in the French 
style with a magnificant facade and portico, the roof 
strictly Siamese, covered with green and gold tiles, so 
that when the sun shines on them they glow like a mass 
of gold and emerald, dazzling to the beholder. Leading 
to the portico, with its tall columns, are massive 
marble steps, at the base of which are two elephants 
heavily gilded, about five feet in height, while along 
the front large windows, heavily draped with yellow 
damask curtains, look out on the courtyard. The 
main entrance to the building is through large two 
leaved teak wood doors, elaborately carved and orna- 
mented, into a spacious anti-chamber, the floor of 
which is covered with square blocks of white and black 
marble ; the walls of highly polished teak are orna- 
mented with all kinds of weapons, from ancient spears 
and battle-axes to the most improved repeating rifles. 
To the left as you enter, up a flight of four marble 

103 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 103 

steps, is the reception room, of His Majesty, one side of 
which is supported with massive columns and filled 
with statuary, bronzes, vases, one pair from Bavaria 
of massive size ; also, a chair manufactured from ele- 
phant's tusks carved most artistically, the ceiling 
magnificently frescoed and the walls decorated with 
life-sized portraits of the kings of Siam and 
leading men of the Kingdom. Passing through 
this room you enter a smaller one, the private reception 
chamber of tlie King, which is most royally furnished, 
as is the entire palace, with furniture made expressly 
for this building in Paris. This room seems to be the 
receptacle of the many works of art and objects of 
interest presented to the reigning dynasty, also por- 
traits of tlie late Queen, the Crown Prince, the Emperor 
Frederick of Germany and other distinguished person- 
ages, an alabaster bust of the present Queen of Italy 
and a number of magnificently bound albums filled 
with photographs of notables, one filled exclusively 
with Americans, embracing General and Mrs. Grant, 
President Cleveland and wife, Mr. Bayard and others. 
On the right of the anti-chamber is a corridor leading 
to the private apartments of the building, while nearly 
facing the entrance is the door of the grand audience 
hall or throne room (Pra-ma-ha-pra-sot), a magnifi- 
cent apartment, containing no furniture, as no one is 
supposed to sit in the presence of the King while he is 
standing, the floor covered with a lovely Persian carpet; 
an immense chandelier is suspended from the ceiling, 
the walls ornamented with pictures and arms of all 
kinds. Facing the entrance at the extreme end is a 
dais surrounded with four steps surmounted with the 
pagoda-shaped umbrella (sa-wekra-chat ), an insignia of 



104 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

royalty, under which the King stands when he gives 
audience to the Princes and nobles or the diplomatic 
body when they call upon him. The structure is large 
and is a perfect poem in stone ; it was ei'ected at vast 
expense by King Chulalongkorn. tlie palace of his pre- 
decessors, adjacent, now being used for state ceremo- 
nials and religious purposes. But few persons save those 
in immediate attendance on His Majesty have the 
entree of the palace, and his servitors are jealous of the 
approach of foreigners, the guards at the door scruti- 
nizing every one most closely, and it is only upon special 
or important business that foreigners are allowed 
to cross its portals, one or more of the Princes or lead- 
ing nobles always being in attendance. As a specimen 
of superb architecture the supreme palace at Bangkok 
stands unrivaled. 

The next building of importance is Wat Phza Keau, 
the temple of the Emerald idol, or Royal wat, which is 
the finest in the kingdom, costing an immense sum and 
nearly fifty years in its erection. It is built similar to 
other wats, but the workmanship, both interior and 
exterior, is of a much higher order, evincing great skill 
on the part of the native artisans. The floor is laid 
with brass brick, six inches square, and the walls are 
covered with well executed paintings, illustrative of 
the life and adventures of Buddha ; the ceiling is a mass 
of fretted gold, from which hang a number of mag- 
nificent chandeliers, sparkling like diamonds when the 
light falls upon them, and casting a glory on the high 
altar that is situated near one end of the room. This 
altar is about sixty feet in height, pyramidal in shape 
and surmounted by the Emerald idol, from which the 
wat takes its name, an image of Buddha twelve inches 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 105 

high and eight in width, in a sitting position. It has 
the appearance of having been carved out of an emer- 
ald, but close observers assure me that it is of jade 
stone ; its collar and hair is of the purest gold, and 
while the metal was in a molten state rare jewels were 
poured into it, diamonds, sapphires, rubies, topazes, 
amethysts, onyxes, crystals, and emeralds, which were 
blended in such proportions as to enhance its value 
to the greatest extent and thus render it an object of 
adoration, akin to the well-known lines, 

"A cross she wore 
That Jews might kiss or infidels adore." 

On each side of the altar is a statue of Buddha over 
six feet in height, heavily plated, with raised hands, 
palms turned out, and in the palm of each hand and 
on the fingers are diamonds and other jewels of rare 
value while, as may be seen from the engraving, are 
smaller statues of the great teacher, many of them of 
solid gold and silver, presents from Kings and Princes ; 
also silver and gold trees, royal umbrellas, rare vases 
filled with golden flow^ers, and a myriad of other things 
that have been presented by votaries as offerings to the 
representative of the founder of their religion valued at 
about $5,000,000, The origin of the emerald idol is leg- 
endary and partakes somewhat of the miraculous. Many 
years since the lightning struck a Burmese temple and 
completely demolished it. In searching among the ruins 
a priest was startled by a gleam of light beneath a 
mass of rubbish, and on clearing it away the image was 
unearthed and shone with undimmed glory. It was 
immediately placed in another temple and since then 
regarded with great reverence. During one of the 
many wars that have occurred between the Burmese 



106 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

and Siamese the idol fell into the hands of its present 
owners and this magnificent wat was erected as a fit 
place for its final abode. The large square pillars of 
this gorgeous temple are ornamented in an arabesque 
of mother of pearl and the balusters that lead to the 
portico are large carved serpents with three heads, the 
windows and doors are massive and elaboratel}^ carved. 
In this wat the King worsliips and it is here that his 
nobles assemble and drink the water of allegiance 
and subscribe to a most blood-curdling oath that they 
will ever prove faithful to His Majesty under the sever- 
est penalties here and hereafter. In the court sur- 
rounding the wat are a number of marble statues of 
persons and nondescripts, among them one supposed 
to be Peter, one of the Apostles; another of Ceres, the 
Grecian goddess of agriculture. 

There are quite a cluster of buildings around the 
royal wat, near it a temple that is considered one of 
the handsomest buildings in the world, which was com- 
menced by the founder of the present dynasty and 
completed by the present king, requiring nearly one 
hundred years to build. It is a mass of mother of 
pearl inlaid with precious metals in arabesque, while 
the inside walls are studded over with small miiTors 
and precious stones inserted in the plaster which glit- 
ter like so man}' gems, the doors, walls and ceiling a 
marvelous mosaic, in the center a magnificent altar, 
over wliich hangs a most elaborate chandelier. The 
history of Siam and the travels of Buddha are painted 
on the walls of the corridor leadino; to the wat in gro- 
tesque but brilliant coloring, not obscene like many 
paintings in India, while surrounding it are a number 
of heavily gilt images, large as life, with roosters' tails 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 107 

and feet, peacocks, eagles, monkeys, etc., and on each 
side of the four black marble steps that lead to this 
temple is the representation of a dragon with three 
women's heads, the heads forming the ornament at the 
base of the steps, while around the court, which is 
paved with black and white marble tiles, is about fifty 
marble statues of the various nationalities and gro- 
tesque figures, some of them uncouth. Adjacent to this 
wat is a small pagoda in which is a massive pyramidal 
cabinet, a mosaic of mother of pearl and ebony, the 
receptacle of the sacred books of Buddha. The floor 
of this room is covered with a carpet of woven silver, 
but the attendants, with the indolence that seems to 
belong to this people, have allowed it to become so 
filthy that one has to rub his foot over it to see that it 
is made of silver. Immediately opposite is the golden 
pagoda, bell-shaped, about sixty feet in height, covered 
from base to summit with small tiles, one inch square, 
heavily plated with gold, which causes the building to 
glow like a mass of burnished metal. It is entered by 
three doors, and in the center is a smaller pagoda, 
similar to the large one, heavily gilt, in which is 
deposited some of the relics of Buddha, supposed 
relics, as the captain of the guard assured me; the walls 
are covered with angels, well painted, and the whole 
is as unique as it is beautiful. Near this is a pagoda, 
built of porcelain, the receptacle of the gold urns that 
contain the ashes of the royal family of Siam. It is 
the most elaborate building in the palace grounds, 
built of tilfs of various colors, representing birds, 
animals, flowers and foliage, the whole surmounted 
with a handsome bouquet of lotus blossoms. 
This building is sealed from the prying eye of 



108 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

the public. In a square close by is a model of the 
great temple of Angkor, the most collossal ruins in 
Asia, which I have spoken of elsewhere. 

Surrounding these wats is a high wall with several 
portalSjthe inside of which is converted into a corridor, 
and on its walls are depicted quite artistically many of 
the superstitions and legends of this land of the lotus. 
The courts are all paved with black and white marble, 
and on the inside of each entrance are two large 
wooden statues, about twelve feet high, hideous old 
fellows, ostensibly the Gog and Magog of Siam. For- 
eigners have but little trouble in visiting these temples 
as a tical (sixty cents) is the open sesame, and there is 
always some one at the gate to show strangers around. 
In the royal wat, in tlie large show cases, can be seen 
rare treasures, dishes full of uncut stones, robes in 
which are woven rubies, emeralds, sapphires and dia- 
monds, cloth of woven gold and other articles of rare 
value, computed by some to be worth millions of dollars. 
Salas and other small buildings are scattered over the 
ground, and with their brilliant tiles and ornaments 
make this spot a scene of oriental enchantment 
unlike any other place on the globe. I have spent 
many hours there, and each time I left it more 
and more impressed with its beauty and grandeur; 
words are inadequate to do it justice. On some of the 
wats are hung small bells, brass lotus leaves, which, 
as the wind blows them back and forth, make weird 
music that lend additional enchantment to the scene. 
But few priests are found about these buildings, and 
what seemed strange was to notice many of the 
servitors lounging on the porticos and playing 
Siamese games for money ; playing with dice as well 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 109 

as with cards ; but the most popular game seems to be to 
pile up a lot of ats, similar to our pennies, in a small 
ring and then by throwing another knock as many as 
possible out of the ring. Men, women and children gam- 
ble, from playing marbles tochicken fighting, and there 
is no village too small not to have its cockpit. 

The other portion of the palace grounds is filled with 
various buildings, the Mint, Foreign Minister's palace. 
Courts of Justice (?), Koyal Library, which contains 
some very valuable books of the western nations, with a 
large collection of Indian works and manuscripts and 
Siamese literature ; residences of nobles and servitors 
of the King and Queens, numbering about five thousand 
persons ; barracks for the guards, and the stables for 
the white, elephants, a place that always attracts the 
attention of foreigners, and once seen, all the romance 
that travelers have woven around these peculiar ani- 
mals fade away and one realizes the truth of Falstaff's 
assertion, " Lord, how this world is given to lying." 

The animals are kept in a large building, each hav- 
ing a room for itself, and are attended by a keeper. 
The rooms have no ornaments, are filthy, and the ani- 
mals are not white, but a dirty coffee color, and no one 
seems to hold them in special reverence. For an at, 
the keeper will make the royal beast throw up his 
trunk and salute you. There were four elephants in 
the stable, and they are undoubtedly albinos, the word 
white being a misnomer. The assertion that the 
Siamese adore them and that they are fed off of gold 
salvers by Princes on bended knee is a traveler's tale, 
which no doubt grew out of the fact that they 
are held in reverence from the supposition that 
Buddha, in one of his many metamorphoses, through 



110 THE PEABL. OF ASIA. 

millions of years, must necessarily delight to abide for 
some time m the grand incarnation of purity which is 
represented by the white elephant. The priests teach 
that there is no spot throughout the universe that is 
not at some time visited by the great teacher in his 
peregrinations, whose every step is toward purity, and 
as tbe elephant is the largest of created animals and 
white being the emblem of purity the chances are that, 
should he dwell for a time in one of God's creatures, he 
would remain longer in one of that color than any 
other, hence in the possession of this sacred creature 
they may secure the presence of Buddha himself. 
♦Sometimes the elephant is regarded as an oracle, as 
he is one of the most intelligent of beasts, and the 
Siamese whisper their secrets in his ear and request an 
answer by some movement or sign ; as wise a plan as 
appealing to the oracles of old. The last elephant 
admitted to the royal stables was caught about ten 
years since and brought to Bangkok in regal style, 
where he was received by the King and Court as if he 
had been some potentate on a visit to royalty. He 
was carefully groomed and around his body was placed 
a broad belt flashing with jewels. After much cere- 
mony he was conducted in grand procession with music, 
flags and a body-guard to his stable, where he is now 
well cared for and only makes his appearance with the 
other white elephants on state occasions. From time 
immemorial the elephant has been the oriflamme of 
Siam, everything pertaining to the kingdom is stamped 
with his portraiture ; it is the badge of distinction 
and shows grandly on the Siamese flag, the white 
elephant on a crimson ground, it is a part of the coat 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. Ill 

of arms of royalty. Like our eagle, it is an important 
appendage of state, nothing less, nothing more. When 
the father of the present King ascended the throne he 
did much to disabuse the minds of his people of many 
of their superstitions ; in fact he founded a new school 
of Buddhism which is being followed out bv King 
Chulalongkorn, and the reverence formerly paid to the 
white elephant has faded away before the blaze of 
enlightenment of the present age. Much of this is due 
to the fact that the deceased King was a fair English 
scholar and a good astronomer; he encouraged the 
missionaries and others that came to Siam in an early 
day, not fearing that they would make any inroads on 
the religious beliefs of his people, and his intercourse 
with the consuls and merchants from other lands made 
him liberal in his views and progressive. Fifty years 
since Siam was a sealed book, to-day it is open to be 
seen by all, and its fertile valleys and emerald plains 
yield ample crops to the husbandman, and its rice and 
other products are eagerly sought for and give employ- 
ment to a vast fleet of vessels that daily fret the waters 
of the Menam. All of the modern inventions have 
been introduced into the Kingdom, and each year marks 
a new departure over the highway of nations that 
must redound to the glory of the King and the pros- 
perity of his people. American and European doctors 
have charge of his hospitals, an American is at the head 
of his University, an American ran his lines of tele- 
graph through jungles that no other white man had 
ever penetrated, and in the American mission schools 
are now being educated the sons and daughters of the 
leading Princes and Governors, while the missionaries 



112 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 



are received and treated with a cordiality that must be 
pleasing to those soldiers of the cross who have thus 
gone into exile for the purpose of the carrying out of 
the great work of Christianity. 





Imperial Altar and Emerald Idol. 



IX. 

PECULIAR MANJS'ER OF SCAEING AWAY 
THE DRAGON. 



While lying on the river at Petchaburee, an inland 
city, about seventy -five miles from Bangkok, I was 
awakened by the most hideous noise ; the firing of 
guns, shooting of crackers, beating of drums and tom- 
toms and the shouting of a vast multitude. Looking 
out of the window of my boat a vv^eird spectacle pre- 
sented itself to my vision. The whole place was lighted 
up by huge bonfires on the banks of the stream and 
the air full of gUttering rockets. Calling my kavass I 
inquired what was the occasion of the hubbub? With 
his usual vye, touching the points of his fingers 
together and raising them up on a level with his breast, 
he replied, " Your Excellency, the great dragon has 
the moon, swallowed up." Having heard that the 
natives thus celebrated the approach of an eclipse, I 
stepped ashore and mingled with the crowd which was 
made up of all classes, old and young, with a large 
sprinkling of yellow-robed priests who were as active 
as the others in keeping up the unearthly din. It was 
a lovely morn, the southern cross hung like a gleaming 
jewel in the upper deep, gentle zephyrs perfumed by 
myriads of flowers fanned the brow and waved the 
feathery bamboo as gently as the coquette her fan, 
the round orbed moon, a bright silver disk, was sus- 
pended in the western heavens, burnished like the 
shield of Achilles, while all around burned the many 

113 



114 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

fires which shed a glare on the crowd of half-clad 
adults and naked children. A shadow had just fallen 
upon the surface of the queen of night, slowly it spread 
over it until the face of the great luminary was covered, 
and it hung in the cloudless heavens an orb of roseate 
hue, its radiance all gone. Then the noise became terrific, 
the reports of guns and crackers were almost deafening, 
which increased as a gleam of silver tinged the outer 
rim of the dimmed goddess. Slowly the shadow passed 
away, the light growing brighter and brighter, the great 
dragon Asura Rahu, that had attempted to swallow 
the moon, had been driven away, and it again shone in 
all of its brilliancy, but soon faded away before the 
corruscations of the coming dawn. It was a scene 
photographed on the memory worthy the pen of an 
Arnold or the pencil of a Titian : the ruddy glow of 
the flowing water, the multitude upon the river banks 
with its white houses embowered in dense foliage, the 
frantic efforts of the people as the shadow drifted 
across the disk of the moon and fell across the land- 
scape and the glare of the fires that lighted up the 
immediate surroundings, a spectacle that could be wit- 
nessed nowhere else save in the interior of Siam,where 
no white man dwells and the native clings to his super- 
stitions as religiously as did his forefathers ere the 
present dynasty ascended the throne of this kingdom. 
It was early morn ere peace reigned once more, and 
when the sun rose amid the pearliest of skies its beams 
lit up a lovely scene, gilding the spires of the w^ats 
and roofs of the palaces ; business had resumed its sway, 
the fisherman was hawking fish, the fruitier his fruit, 
the merchant had displayed his goods on the counter, 
the priests were gathering their food into their rice 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 115 

pots for the day's provender and the moon and the 
dragon seemed to have passed into oblivion, the 
only evidence of the nocturnal saturnalia being 
the smoking pyres that had been hghted and the 
exploded red and white crackers that strewed the 
ground. 

Upon inquirj^ I learned that it has been the custom 
of the people of Siam from time immemorial 
to thus drive off the dragon Rahu and the legend 
runs thus : According to Buddhistic belief, in a 
former state of transmigration the sun (Athil), the 
moon (Chen), and the Asura Rahu were brothers. They 
gave alms to the priests, the first on a golden salver, 
the second in a silver vase and the latter in a black 
pot, which led to their all being born as angels ; the 
first as angel of the sun, second as angel of the moon 
and the third as the angel Rahu. The latter, who had 
been on bad terms with his brethren, sinned and became 
one of the Asuras, or fallen angels, who were expelled 
from heaven by Indra, king of the lower heavens, in a 
drunken state and driven to a region underneath 
Meru, the central mountain, from which they make 
continual sallies, vainly attempting to regain their 
former abode, the most powerful of which is Asura 
Rahu, who is always known to be abroad by his attempt- 
ing to swallow the sun and moon, his brothers, which 
occasions the eclipses ; but the rapid motion of these 
bodies make it impossible for him to hold them for any 
length of time. At some great Siamese ceremonies one 
may see an enormous serpent or dragon, made of 
lamps, ingeniously joined together, and borne about by 
a number of men, intended to represent Rahu chasing 
the moon. Conversing with some of the leading Princes 



116 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

in regard to this legend, they smilinglj'^ remarked that 
the ceremonies now attending the eclipse was but the 
mere keeping up of an ancient custom, like the western 
nations hanging up stockings for St. Nicholas to fill 
with sweets ; that the belief in the dragon Eahu of 
Si am was but a myth, as was that of St. George and 
the dras'on of Britain. 



X. 

THE WATEE KITE. 

Among the many religious ceremonies of the Sia- 
mese none is more peculiar or more closely observed 
than the water (nom) rite, which takes place during 
the month of April, about the time the mangoes are 
ripe. Then the natives assemble at the nearest wat 
close to the shore of the gulf or by the banks of a 
river and build myriads of sand piles about eighteen 
inches high, shaped like a bee-hive, which they decor- 
ate with flowers and small paper flags of various colors, 
then sprinkle them with water highly perfumed. I 
have frequently seen hundreds of men, women and 
children, with a number of priests mingled with the 
crowd, making these mounds. After the sprinkling is 
over each person fills a cocoanut siiell with water which 
they throw over one another amid shouts of laughter; 
the half-clad lithe-limbed maids enjoying the fun 
immensely as the young men chase them backward and 
forward over the beach, when, to escape, they fre- 
quently plunge into the tide and swim out into the 
water, diving like mermaids, the sport ending in a 
ducking match. When tired out they swim back to 
the beach, amid the laughter of the spectators. 

Water rites enter largely into tlie ceremonies of 
the Siamese, and ablution is encouraged as one of 
the essentials of health. While rowing or sailing on 
the Menam, numbers of persons of both sexes, can be 
seen swimming in the river or bathing in the canals 

U7 



118 THE PEAEL OP ASIA. 

scantily clad, with nothing on but a cloth wrapped 
about the loins, about the size of a Turkish towel, 
while the children are as nature fashioned them and 
their merry laugh rings out merrily as a boat glides 
by. The Siamese seem to be as much at home in 
the water as on land, many live in boats or float- 
ing houses and learn to swim at an earl}^ age. 
It seems strange to them that any one can not swim ; 
this, together with their belief that it is unlucky to save 
a person from drowning, the rescued ones' sins being- 
unloaded on the rescuer and his future peccadilloes, 
also, credited against him, has led to the loss of several 
foreigners who could have been saved had the natives 
gone to their assistance, paying no heed to their cries 
for help. The current of the Menam at Bangkok is 
swift and full of eddies, and a person that is so unfortu- 
nate as to be overturned out of a boat or fall overboard 
from a vessel and can not swim js soon drawn under the 
surface, and several days elapses ere the body is found, 
miles away from where the treacherous stream swal- 
lowed it up, a victim, as the natives assert, to the genii 
of the waters. 

Many of the Buddhist ceremonies consist in the 
pouring of water, and are frequently mentioned in 
Buddhistic literature. In the life of Buddha, when the 
village maiden Suchada is about to present him, whom 
she believes to be an angel, an offering that she had 
prepared especially for him, she, as a preliminary, poured 
water perfumed by the mogra, sweetest of India's blos- 
soms, and other flowers on his hands, and when the 
King of Magodho tendered Weloowon, his pleasure 
garden, to the great teacher as a site for a monastery, 
he ratified the gift by pouring water from a jeweled 



THE TEAEL OF ASIA. 119 

shell on the earth, and as the glittering drops fell 
Buddah blessed the ground which rendered it sacred. 
Among the Hindoos, from whom the Siamese have 
derived many of their customs, the ceremonies for sac- 
rifices, marriages, hair cutting, cremations, etc., consists 
in part of sprinkling and pouring of water. The priests 
pour water, that has been blessed, over the persons of 
tlie sick that are brought to the wats to be cared for, and 
frequentl}^ fill their mouths full of water and blow it in 
the face of the invalid and on the part of the body that 
is affected. 

When the present King of Siam, Chulalongkorn I., 
was crowned, the pouring of water was one of the 
essentials of the coronation and not neglected in the 
elaborate ceremonies. Henry Alabaster, interpreter at 
the English Legation and afterwards councellor to His 
Majesty, briefly records the ceremonials upon that 
occasion, from which I condense the followino-: 

The King, robed in white, placed himself in a gold 
bath, under a canopy from which a shower of w^ater 
(collected, I was told, from all parts of the kingdom) 
fell upon him, and for about fifteen minutes afterwards 
His Majesty sat shivering, whilst the chief Brahmin 
and the highest princes and ladies poured over him 
each a bowl of water. This ceremony was conducted 
in an inner court of the palace, in presence of a very 
small and selected audience, and no foreigner had been 
allowed to witness it until this occasion, when the 
courtesy of His Grace the Regent, breaking throuoli 
customary prejudice, procured the honor for a few. 
After the bath, the King changed his dress for one 
more gorgeous, and proceeded to a hall, where, in 
presence of a larger but still select audience, he sat 



120 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

on an octagonal throne, and changing his seat eight 
times, to face the eight points of the compass, repeated 
each time the formula called the coronation oath. He 
then marched along the center of the hall, and, taking 
his seat at the end opposite to that where the octago- 
nal throne was placed, he was invested with the 
crown, sword, and other insignia of royalty. A variety 
of war-like weapons were then presented to His 
Majesty, each one of which, having been touched by 
him, was returned to its place. 

His Majesty then received a bowl full of small gold 
and silver flowers to distribute as a token of his royal 
desire to rain prosperity on the recipients. 

His Majesty first handed some of these flowers to 
the leading princes and ministers, and then turned to 
give some to the foreigners present, and what remained 
were scattered among the audience. 

After this ceremony the King rested for a short 
while, and then, in one of the great audience halls of 
the palace, gave audience to the whole body of nobles. 
Then each leading chief, each head of a department, 
in turn or order of rank resigned into the new King's 
hands the rank and power conferred on him by the 
King who had passed away, and the new King in a 
few, short, graceful words re-conferred all upon him. 

To this audience the Siamese admitted many for- 
eigners, who, for want of space, had been debarred 
from the honor and pleasure of participating in the 
preceding ceremonies. 

When the Crown Prince was declared heir apparent 
to the throne a large pavilion was built out into the 
Menam (see engraving), at a vast expense, in the cen- 
ter of which was a pool, about twelve feet square, lined 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 121 

with marble and having silver rails to lead to the 
water, into which the Prince descended and was 
received by H. K. H. Prince Ong JSToi, brother of the 
King, who poured the water of the majestic river over 
the Prince from a cup flashing with jewels, after he 
had immersed him, the leading astrologers having fixed 
the time for the ceremony, the bishops, abbots and 
priests meanwhile chanting their litany and quoting 
passages from the works of the great teacher, in the 
Pali language. As the water fell upon the bowed head 
of the Prince the ordinance from the forts and shipping 
thundered forth salute after salute and ten thousand 
soldiers and mariners, who were stationed in and around 
the pavilion and palace, discharged their muskets and 
rifles, making the welkin ring with their reverberations, 
and the immense crowd that lined the river banks and 
filled to suffocation the avenues that led to the palace 
knew that the Prince had undergone the ordinance of 
baptism. This grand oriental ceremony lasted three 
days, and in commemoration thereof the King caused 
medals to be struck of gold, silver and bronze, which 
he presented to the Ministers and Consular body and 
the Princes and nobles as souvenirs of this great event, 
the most important in the annals of the Kingdom of 
Siam. While the ceremonies were progressing, tea, 
coffee, ices, cakes, candied fruits, ginger ale and soda 
water were handed round to the guests by uniformed 
servants on silver salvers, many of the cups and plates 
used being of the rarest porcelain. 



XI. 

CEEEMONIES OF HAIR CUTTING. 

When a Siamese child, boy or girl, has reached a 
suitable age, the time for which is fixed by the sooth- 
sayer, or astrologer who casts its horoscope, ranging 
from nine, eleven, thirteen or fifteen years ; the even 
numbers being avoided as unlucliy — no more supersti- 
tious people exist than the Siamese — the coming of age, 
as it is termed, is celebrated with the most elaborate 
ceremonies called So-kan or " hair cutting." Prior to this 
time the head of the child is shaved with the exception 
of a tuft or top-knot, which is allowed to grow on the 
crown of the head until the time comes when the 
child, if a boy, is to be emancipated from female con- 
trol in the harem, or, if a girl, as soon as she reaches the 
years of puberty. This custom is observed by the 
nobles or well-to-do Siamese and by most of the people. 
When the time has been designated for shaving off the 
top-knot the palace or residence of the parents is placed 
in perfect order, festooned with flags of every color, 
garlanded with flowers, priests engaged to chant their 
litany, bands of music employed who clay and night 
keep up a hideous din, a splendid repast spread for the 
family and guests and rare presents made to the child 
for his or her future benefit ; fire- works of all kinds are 
let off and the air is filled with bombs and rockets, 
golden showers and silver trees dazzle the eye and a 
bamboo torpedo, called the "howling elephant," which, 
while burning, makes a most mournful noise like one 

123 



■THE PEARL OF ASIA. 123 

of those huge beasts in pain. At times, during the 
ceremony, one can imagine himself in pandemo- 
nium; on most occasions the ceremony lasts three 
days ; but when a " Chow Fa," the Crown Prince and 
heir apparent to the throne, born of royal parents on 
both sides, his mother being half-sister to the King, 
which makes him a celestial Prince, has his hair cut, as 
was the case with the present son of the King, the 
rites are more elaborate and splendid, lasting one week. 
For months before the day set by the astrologers prep- 
arations had been going on on a grand scale for the 
coming ceremony; a sacred mountain, over one hundred 
feet high, was erected in the outer palace yard and 
from its summit the Prince descended and was 
received by the King and the priests, typical of a pass- 
age in the life of Buddha, who, after fasting on a 
mountain, descended and was received by his followers 
who had patiently awaited his coming. Yast expendi- 
tures of the resources of the Kingdom were exhausted 
to do honor to the occasion, which was of the greatest 
solemnity. 

The date of the hair cutting, or " Bai si," as the Sia- 
mese term it, was set for the 19th of January, 1891, 
and the morning, one of unrivaled brilliancy, was 
ushered in by a royal salute from the vessels in the 
stream lying in front of the palace and by the various 
batteries in the forts and on the esplanade. Soon 
masses of gaily dressed natives were seen wending 
their way toward the palace and all that could pressed 
forward to the entrance and surged through the iron 
portals of its white walls, then squatting down patiently 
awaited the commencement of the gorgeous ceremonies 
that were to convert the young Prince into a full-fledged 



124 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

nobleman, one of the highest grandees, and to elimin- 
ate him from his mother's control and to see him shorn 
of his top-knot. For hours procession after procession 
passed and repassed along the wide avenues of the 
palace grounds, each section headed by a leading noble, 
representing the various tribes that are ruled by Chula- 
longkornl., Laos, Mauns, Peguins, Annomites, Cochin 
Chinese, Malays, etc., each in their peculiar costumes, 
while at intervals lacon girls, clad in glittermg vest- 
ments, went through their dances and posturing, which 
is unlike any other performance of the kind and always 
attracts the attention of foreigners as well as being pleas- 
ing to the natives, the girls being lithe of limb and dressed 
to represent " nats," or angels, also the Siamese word 
for a handsome woman. The religious ceremony when 
the hair was removed was witnessed only by the King, 
the Princes and the royal family and the higher order 
of priests, the brother of the King, a leading bishop, 
officiating. As usual there was the pouring of holy 
water from a crystal chalice sparkling with gems, the 
clothing of the Prince in vestments prepared for the 
occasion, blessing by the bishops and chanting of priests. 
After the hair was cut the King and all those in attend- 
ance were sumptuously feasted and then two stand- 
ards, called Bai see, were placed in thecenter of acircle 
and had the appearance of the Siamese Sawekrachet, 
or royal umbrella, one of the five insignia of royalty 
peculiar to the reigning dynasty. These standards are 
about eight feet high, having from three to five stories, 
the staff fixed on a wooden pedestal, light and porta- 
ble. The different stories of the Bai see are made of 
plantain leaves interspersed with gilt and silvered paper. 
Each story is circular in form with a flaring and 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 125 

deeply serrated brim and has a flat bottom; within 
these receptacles are placed a little cooked rice, called 
khao Ml wan, a small quantity of cakes, some sweet 
scented oil, a handful of frao;rant flowers, young 
cocoanuts and plantains ; other edibles, also, are 
arranged around the Bai see and a tastefully 
arranged bouquet adorns the topmost story of each. A 
procession is then formed of the princes, noblemen and 
others, who march around the standards nine times. 
There are also three golden candlesticks, holding each 
a large wax candle, which, being lighted, are carried 
by difl^erent princes and other dignitaries in the pro- 
cession and handed from one to the other as they 
move around the standards; meanwhile the royal son 
or daughter, for whom the festival is held, is seated on 
a kind of throne between the two standards, arrayed 
in splendid costume. The persons holding the candles 
■wave them when passing in front of the Prince, and 
fan the smoke of them into his face, as the influence 
of this has much to do in conferring the desired bless- 
ing upon him. This moving of the procession around 
the Bai sees is denomiated Weean t'eean, literally 
marching round with candles. There are nine of these 
evolutions for a child of a king, and five for a child, of 
a subject. 

This being finished, one of the old and most 
respectable Brahmins then takes a little of the rice 
from the Bai see, and sprinkling upon it a small quan- 
tity of cocoa-nut water gave the Prince a spoonful of it. 
Then dipping his finger into the sweet-scented oil, and 
this again into the fragrant flour, he applies it from 
the point of his finger to the right foot of the Prince in 
three places. To the children of the people, this mixture 



126 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

is always applied to the head ; but to a child of a king 
it would be improper, because his head is accounted too 
sacred to be touched in that way. This ceremony 
having been completed a revered doctor of divinity 
addresses the child, in words said to be suited to invite 
the k'won of the prince — that is his courage and pluck, 
— to a permanent abode in his bosom, so that he shall 
spend his days without agitation or fear, as it becom- 
eth a man whom the fates have determined shall pass 
through this world of conflict. 

Siamese of the middle classes nearly all follow essen. 
tially the same custom for their children in regard to 
the puberal hair-cutting as the King does for his. Their 
festivals are of course much less imposing, and are 
continued only a part of two days, and sometimes only 
one. The presents made to their children on these 
occasions would not often exceed eighty ticals from a 
single person, and very rarely be as small as four. A 
millionaire might ape the King very nearly by sending 
out invitations to hundreds of his wealthy friends, to 
attend the hair-cutting of a son. Few of them would 
be absent, and such not without some valuable silver 
substitute, and few if any of those wealthy attendants 
would be likely to think of giving less than one catty, 
that is, eighty ticals each. But this custom of making 
presents is but a system of exchange, in its operation 
among the subjects of Siam; because every man 
favored with the gift of children has the privilege of 
making a hair-cutting festival for each one of them, 
and will probably receive as much in presents for 
his children on such occasions as he ever gave away to 
others for the same purposes. 

The children of the lower classes who are not able 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 12T 

to bear the expense of a public hair-cutting for their 
children take them to a Buddhist temple at the proper 
time in life, and have the priest shave off the tuft with 
some little accompanying religious exercises ; and this 
is accounted far better for the child than to have it cut 
in any common way. 

During the ceremony the Crown Prince was the 
recipient of costly presents which he received with the 
stoicism of a noble-born Asiatic whose forefathers had 
ruled Siam for over one hundred years, and he looked, 
as he is, the worthy son of one of the most liberal as 
well as brainiest men that now sits upon a throne, the 
virtual head of the Buddhist church. All of the feud- 
atory nobles of His Majesty were assembled in Bang- 
kok with their retainers, among them the Rajah of 
Kedah, the Sultans of Patani, Kelanton and Tringanu, 
the governors of Singora, Renong and Kroh, as well as 
those of other provinces with their retainers, all of 
whom bore gifts consisting of silver and gold trees, orna- 
ments, jewelry, boxes,rare fabrics, jeweled swords and in 
some instances large rolls of dollars and sacks of ticals 
the coin of the realm. At the conclusion of the cere- 
monies the King, now that the Prince was removed 
from the influence of the women of the palace, set 
apart a palace for his residence which will be occupied 
by him and his retainers and Mr. Morant, his English 
tutor. It is the intention of His Majesty to make his heir 
realize the duties of the position. Though but thirteen 
year of age the Prince shows marked ability; he is a 
good English scholar, highly advanced in mathematics, 
thoroughly conversant with the literature of Siam and 
India and bids fair, should nothing intervene, to make 
a monarch as wise and just as his father, who is wor- 



128 THE PEA.RL OF ASIA. 

shiped by his people for the Uberal measures that he 
has carried out for their amelioration and the pro- 
gressive spirit manifested in his efforts to encourage 
education, establish hospitals and railroads. Since he 
ascended the throne prosperity has smiled upon the 
emerald plains and verdant valleys of this sun-kissed 
land which can well be called the Pearl of Asia, and he has 
linkedhisKingdom to the outside world by telegraphic 
lines, while his postal system is the equal of any of the 
Western nations. All that the Siamese ask is to be let 
alone, they can care for themselves, and the baneful 
shadow of British greed and French spoliation once 
removed Siam would step rapidly to the front as one 
of the most progressive nations of the far East, a 
benefit not only to its people, but the world at large. 



XIT. 

WAT-SA-KET AND THE SIAMESE GOLGOTHA. 

One of the first places visited by tourists while in 
Bangkok is Wat-Sa-Ket, a temple erected on a vast 
mound of brick at the intersection of two of the large 
klangs or canals that permeate the city. It is about 
two hundred and fifty feet in height, built about 
sixty years ago, in the form of a bell with a circum- 
ference of one thousand feet, and is surmounted by a 
temple that can be seen from any part of the city, 
access to which is by a flight of stone steps in front, or 
by a circular roadway that winds round it from base 
to summit. This mound was raised at great expense 
so much so as to give it the name of the gold moun- 
tain and is the only elevation in the city, Bangkok 
being laid out on a level plain, the delta of the Menam, 
and from its lofty summit the city, embowered in 
foliage, stretches away for miles ; the river, in the dis- 
tance, like a ribbon of silver, flowing on to the gulf, 
and the spires and roofs of the watsand palaces shining 
like burnished gold in the sun, as most of them are 
covered with a gold tile that reflects the beams of the 
day god most brilliantly. The eye never grows weary 
looking over this lovely landscape dotted with feathery 
bamboo, the deep emerald banyan tree and palms and 
foliage of all kinds, a scene of oriental beauty unique 
and worthy a visit to the orient to witness. Within 
the boundaries of Wat-Sa-Ket are a number of other 
temples and the residences of priests. A portion of 

129 



130 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

the temple grounds is set off for purposes of crema- 
tion and a large court-yard adjacent is used by the 
custodian of the temple as a receptacle for the bodies 
of criminals and paupers, which are taken thither and 
exposed to the dogs and vultures, who soon dispose of 
the remains, and bird and beast fight over their horrid 
feast while the stench is intolerable. Looking on at 
this cannibalistic repast one can realize the truth of 
Byron's description of the desecration of the dead in 
his poem of "The Siege of Corinth." 

In company with some friends, who had heard of 
this modern Golgotha, we proceeded in a boat to the 
temple and were ushered through the dark and heavy 
gateway of the building by a yellow-robed priest who 
regretted that he had no bodies that day to feed to the 
vultures, which were roosting on the roofs and trees 
waitino^ for their dailv feast. As we did not feel like 
returning without looking at the spot where com- 
mon humanity was thus primitively disposed of, we 
requested to be shown the place, and were soon ushered 
into the yard which was about seventy-five feet wide 
and one hundred feet in length, with a bamboo building 
at one end. While examining the place we noticed an old 
woman neatly dressed lying upon the ground, apparently 
asleep, and while we were wondering what she could 
be doing a vulture tripped up and pecked out one of 
her eyes which it swallowed with great gusto, then a 
mangy, dun-colored pariah dog crept up and bit a piece 
out of the cheek of the corpse and soon the air was full 
of the foul birds as was the ground with dogs, all 
eager to partake of the hideous feast, literally covering 
the body, fighting for the flesh and the bones, and in 
forty-five minutes nothing was left but a few of the 



THE PEARL OE ASIA. 131 

largest bones and the soles of the feet, the whole body 
having disappeared within the maws of these hideous 
ghouls. When the repast was ended the vultures lazily 
flew up to their perch and sleepily awaited another 
human feast. It was with feelings of loathing that the 
party left the foul enclosure wondering why so pro- 
gressive a monarch as King Chulalongkorn did not put 
a stop to this beastly way of disposing of the pauper 
dead of his capital city, notwithstanding it has 
been the custom of the country for untold years. In 
a lot adjacent to this Golgotha were large piles of human 
remains in boxes in all stages of decomposition await- 
ing to be cremated, their relatives not having raised a 
sufficient amount to pay the expense of the ceremony, 
about five dollars ; but having paid some on account the 
bodies were kept waiting for the remainder and then 
were converted into ashes. To say that the air was 
rank with the odors of putrefaction would be drawing 
it mild ; camphor was lavishly used and for hours ones 
nostrils seemed to be affected by the villainous smell. 
One visit to this place is satisfactory and lasting, and it 
would take the weird penciling of a Dore to portray 
its horrors: the old gray-haired woman, tlie sable birds 
and dun-colored curs fighting over what had once been 
a mother, with yellow-robed priests standing by, while 
in the bamboo house were some of her children listening 
to the teaching of Buddha as they were drawled out by 
one of the many priests who loiter around this place of 
horrors. These exposures of the remains are of fre- 
quent occurrence, but most of the Siamese are properly 
cremated; frequently large sums are expended on these 
ceremonies and are conducted with great pomp and 
ceremony, the solemnities being kept up for three days. 



132 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

It is the custom of the country to keep the remains 
encased in coffins after they are embalmed for six months 
and then have the cremations. Prior to the burning 
and while the body lies in state all kinds of amusements 
are held at the residence of the deceased, fire-works are 
shot off at night, feasting of the family and slaves, 
presents are made to the priests and the s[)irit of the 
departed and kindred spirits are cared for by a sumptu- 
ous repast being daily spread for them, as it is the 
belief of the relatives and friends that his or her spirit is 
hovering round and mindful of what is being done in its 
behalf; hence lacons are held, musicians are employed 
and as long as the body is not consumed a perfect satur- 
nalia is kept up and large sums are thus expended which 
are encouraged by the priests who are not forgotten. 
Immediately opposite the Legation grounds is the 
palace of a high noble who had passed his allotted time 
on earth and passed over the invisible river; his remains 
were encased in a large rosewood coffin, after which it 
was filled with spices and' oils, covered with costly 
silks, then encased in a teak wood box and the whole 
carefully sealed up. After being painted and gilded 
it was placed on a stand and for six months it was 
watched daily by a number of priests, and each night 
lacons were held and fireworks let off while bands of 
music kept up a din till midnight; then it was removed 
in a handsome barge and taken to one of the leading 
wats for cremation and placed on an altar built for 
the occasion, covered with a small temple made of 
palms and ornamented with flags and colored cloths, 
draped around with handsome curtains which were 
drawn back so that the coffin could be seen. When 
everything was ready a high nobleman stepped for- 



THE PEARL OP ASIA. 133 

ward with a small lantern which he brought with him 
from the king's palace and lighted the pyre ; the lan- 
tern contained the holy fire that is never allowed to go 
out and is only used upon occasions of this kind and 
then by the special favor of His Majesty. While the 
body was burning all kinds of lacons and Chinese 
performances were going on, tea and sweets were 
passed around among the invited guests and a large 
banquet spread so that all who desired could go 
and partake thereof; fireworks were let off, and 
the bursting of bombs was almost deafening. This 
was kept up till midnight, and then the immense crowd 
commenced to drift homeward ; the body had been 
consumed, and whenmorningcame the ashes that were 
left were carefully collected and placed in a small gold 
urn and carefully stowed away among the valuables of 
the family. At intervals while the burning was going 
on men stationed in various portions of the ground 
flung handfuls of small limes, in which were inserted a 
fuang or salung, small silver coins, among the crowd, 
who scrambled for them in the liveliest manner. The 
scene was weird in the extreme, and the lower 
order of the Siamese always welcome the cremation 
ceremonies of a noble with exceeding joy, an evening 
of unrestrained enjoyment. Death to them seemino-ly 
has no terror, as they look upon their passing away as 
the translation into some other sphere, and they accept 
the inevitable as calmly as if unrobing for their nightlv 
slumber; it is a part of their religion, a belief that is 
hoary with age. That is one thing that the mission- 
aries have to contend with, the indifference manifested 
by these people in regard to the hereafter; they regard 
the to come beyond the grave as merely a state of 



134 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

transition that covers millions of years before they can 
pass through the seven heavens, as is taught by the 
priests before they can enter Nirvana. They believe 
that the spirits of the dead are alwa^'^s about them, and 
tliey are thus induced to perform meritorious acts to 
appease or please them, such as furnishing robes for 
the priests, giving food to the needy, building wats and 
making donations for charitable purposes. This is 
called merit making. Buddhists believe that every act, 
word or thought has its consequence which will appear 
sooner or later in the present or in some future state. 
Evil acts will produce evil consequences, that is, 
may cause misfortune in this world, or an 
evil birth in hell, or as an animal in some 
future existence. Good acts will produce good effects ; 
prosperity in this world or birth in heaven, or a 
higher position in the world in some future state. 
There is no God who judges the acts and doings of 
mortals in regard to the awards of recompense and 
punishment ; it is simply the inevitable effect of Kam 
(consequence) which works out its own results. Kam 
literally means that which is not foreseen as is illus- 
trated in Buddhistic writings by the story of 
Phra Maha Chanok, who escaping from a shipwreck 
fell asleep in the woods and on awaking was received 
with royal honors and made king of the country. This 
happening without any foreknowledge on his part is 
classed with the Kam of the meritorious kind. The 
demeritorious is when an innocent one is punished for 
another's crime, for instance where when two men 
were in bathing and a crocodile devoured the 
one and left the other; also, when two men Avere 
equally liable to execution the judge condemned one 



THE PEARL OE ASIA, ' 135 

and set the other free. Merit or demerit will cause a 
tendency of the spirit or soul in one direction some 
times to as many as seven births and deaths, which 
will be followed by a relapse in the opposite direction 
for six, five or less times in accordance with the 
demerits which sometimes result from the slaughter of 
a single ant. The writings of Kam are voluminous 
and like most of the literature of the East tedious and 
frequently irrelevant, made up of legends and fables. 
To students of Buddhist mj^thology it may be interest- 
ing, but it would tire the general reader who doubtless 
cares very little concerning the mysticisms of these 
people. 



XIII. 

A SIAMESE EXECUTION. 

It is seldom that the Siamese resort to capital punish- 
ment, most yiolations of law being punished by 
imprisonment, the major crimes by incarceration for 
life, such as mui'der and treason. As soon as sentenced 
the prisoner is manacled and turned over to some 
Prince or noble, whose slave he becomes, and he is then 
placed under a task master who proceeds to get all the 
work out of him possible. Under his control the 
doomed one has a foretaste of hades ere he shuffles off 
his mortal coil. The life prisoner has a chain fastened 
to a steel ring riveted around his neck, and this is never 
taken off till death claims him ; the chain from his 
neck is also riveted around his ankles, and the clank- 
ing of these fetters can be heard in every part of 
Bangkok, as long lines of prisoners are daily driven 
through the streets to their work. The other prisoners 
are chained around the ankles with a chain about 
eighteen inches in length. Any one owning slaves has 
a right to put them in chains on the most frivolous 
pretext, and I was assured by a gentleman who had 
traveled through the interior of the country that he 
saw large numbers thus manacled, male and female. 
The prisoners in Bangkok are put to work in the gar- 
dens of the nobles, sawing teak wood logs into 
boards, working on the streets and cleaning out canals, 
in fact all kind of hard work, and at night men and 
women are locked up together in close rooms and treated 

136 




u 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 137 

as if they had lost all the rights of humanity. Should 
they desire any favor they can only obtain it through 
the greed of the guards who extort from them all the 
money that their relatives can give for this purpose, 
frequently holding back the small amount of rice 
doled out for their food till they are on the 
verge of starvation so as to induce tlieir friends 
to come to their assistance. The prisons, 1 have been 
informed by those who have entered them, are filthy in 
the extreme ; the stench intolerable. Within the past 
year His Majesty has attempted to alleviate the suffer- 
ing of the prisoners and has had erected a large prison 
house in accordance with modern methods, but so lono- 
as a prisoner is looked upon as a mere beast and brutal 
jailors have him in charge but little can be done to. 
benefit his wretched condition. Persons are arrested 
on the frailest pretexts and knowing the horrors that 
are in store for them if convicted " see " some one in 
power who " sees " some one else and if he can raise 
the requisite number of ticals escapes with a lightened 
pouch; in fact this state of affairs was so prevalent a 
couple of years since that a band of dacoits operated 
openly in Bangkok until their crimes became so bold 
and flagrant that the attention of the King was called 
to it and then fourteen of the leaders, whose money 
had hitherto shielded them, were arrested and tried; 
the evidence against them was conclusive and they 
were sentenced to be executed. Every effort was made 
to save them by their friends, but it availed not, in this 
instance money was powerless, the King had moved in 
the matter. That settled it, no one daring to set aside 
the edict of royalty. 
A Siamese execution is a peculiar affair After 



138 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

sentence of death is pronounced on a prisoner he is con- 
fined ill jail till the morning of execution and then a 
bamboo yoke, about a yard in length, is placed around 
liis neck and fastened to a round piece of wood that 
encloses his wrists, thus keeping the arms stretched out 
in front of him and with chains on his neck and ankles 
he is led to a wat in tlie neighborhood of the execu- 
tion ground where he is banibooed by the executioner 
and after prayers b}^ the priests is taken to the 
spot selected for the purpose where a small bamboo 
cross is stuck in the ground ; the yoke and chain around 
the neck is then taken off and the prisoner ordered to 
squat down in front of the cross to which his arms are 
fastened, he is then made to bend forward with his 
face toward the ground, in front of him are placed 
some fiowei's and a few lighted joss sticks, then one of 
the attendants takes some mud and plugs up his ears 
and makes a mark across the back of his neck. All 
being i-eadj'^ at a signal the executioner enters and as 
soon as he gets immediately behind the prisoner gives 
his sword a whirl and bringing it down with full force 
severs the head from the body, except a small piece of 
skin which connects it with the torso. 

Having a curiosity to witness an execution I attended 
that of three dacoits, three of the fourteen that had 
been sentenced. His Majesty having commuted the 
sentence of eleven to imprisonment for life, a worse 
punishment than death. After the prisoners had been 
bambooed they were escorted to the ground by a 
squad of soldiers and police. Then their chains were 
stricken off and they were made to seat themselves 
before the crosses to which they were fastened, mud was 
then placed in their ears and marks drawn across their 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 139 

necks. The feeling of the crowd now became intense 
and all eagerhr asvaited the appearance of the execu- 
tioners. The victims seemed more composed than the 
spectators ; the head dacoit, a man about fifty years 
old, asked for a bogee, a Siamese cigar, which one of the 
a,ttendants lighted for him and he smoked it as coolly 
as if he felt no terror of the fate that hung over him, 
that his stay on this earth was encompassed but by a 
few minutes; another, a magnificent young half- 
cast Chinaman, smiled placidly and leaned over 
and inhaled the perfume of the flowers placed 
in front of him, the other evinced some feeling. It was 
a strange spectacle to see those men squatting on the 
ground with bowed heads inside a cordon of soldiers 
and immediately behind them a mass of people eagerly 
awaiting the coming of the executioners. In about ten 
minutes after the prisoners were brought on the 
ground I observed a slight commotion among the crowd 
and upon looking up noticed three men enter the circle 
dressed in scarlet with gold fringe trimmings on their 
coats, each bearing a heavy shining sword ; they 
advanced dancing and saluting with their weapons 
until they were immediately behind the prisoners 
when with a sudden whirl they struck, you heard a 
simultaneous thud and then saw the blood spurt upward 
as three bodies rose upright and fell forward, being 
held in place by the crosses. It seems as if death was 
instantaneous. As soon as the blows were struck the 
executioners disappeared and then a man came forward 
with a large knife and severed the small piece of skin 
that held the heads to the bodies and stuck them on 
small bamboo poles about six feet high. The eyes 
opened repeatedly and the jaws closed and opened 



140 THE PEARL OF ASIA, 

as the blood ran out, the faces bleaching nearly 
white. It was a horrible sight. After impaling the 
heads the man in charge proceeded to cut off the heels 
of the dead bodies so as to secure the drains around the 
ankles, and then the torsos were left on the ground for 
the dogs and vultures to feast on, but generally the 
friends of the doomed men wait till night and bear 
the bodies off, assisted in this by some of the priests, 
and convey them away for the purpose of cremation. 
Executions are rare in Bangkok, as the prisoners can 
be put to better use than executing them ; it is only 
resorted to in such cases as I have mentioned to act 
as a check on the outlawry that would otherwise exist in 
a community where money can be used to evade jus- 
tice and brigandage thus go unpunished. The curse 
of gambling is the cause of most of the crimes in 
Siam, which is mainly confined to petty stealing in the 
cities. In the country the outlaws frequently band 
together and then they bid defiance to the authorities, 
and when they are arrested the officials fail to punish 
them, if the necessary inducements are offered for 
their release. A reign of terror sometimes exists in 
and around the small towns in the interior. While at 
Ratburee a Chinaman told me that he had been for over 
three years endeavoring to bring to trial some scoun- 
drels who had entered his house and assaulted him, 
killed his wife and gutted his place. He had them 
arrested, they were in chains and working for the gov- 
ernor, and that was the end of it. They will thus 
remain slaves till they die, if they have no one wealthy 
enough to buy them off, and thus escape the 
extreme penalty for their crime. Chapters could be 
written on prison life in this kingdom, of its untold 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 141 

horrors, and still the half would not be told. It is so 
all over the East, in fact much worse in China, where 
prisoners are subjected to all kind of torture by their 
jailers till the last tael is extracted from them, starva- 
tion and thirst being the mildest means used. The 
power of the jailer is absolute and there is no one to 
stand between him and the code that he lays down for 
the management of those who are so unfortunate as to 
fall into his power. In Bangkok the subject of prison 
reform has been agitated to some purpose by the 
missionaries and others, and prisoners are now better 
cared for, and treated with more leniency than in the 
past ; much of this is owing to the fact that His 
Majesty is looking into matters of this kind, having had 
his atten</ion called to it. 



XIT. 

PADDY (RICE) AND ITS CULTIYATIOK 

Paddy or rice fields are seldom sown in Siam, the 
plant is raised in beds and then transplanted. They 
prepare the beds or nurseries, as they term them, by 
breaking the ground and harrowing it until it is soft, 
and then irrigating it so that when they sow the seed 
the bed is in a semi-fluid state. The seed, which has 
been sprouted, is then sown so that it will come up as 
thick as possible. This part of the work is always done 
by the women, during the latter part of May or early 
in June. Being sprouted and sown in the mud the 
seed does not need to be covered and is called kla, the 
sowing of it they term tok kla, sowing the sprouted 
seed. If the water is muddy on the bed, and the seed 
is covered by it, it will rot, but if it is clear so that the 
sun can shine on it it will grow. When there is too 
much water on the bed the women and children bail it 
out by means of the common well sweep and bucket, 
and sometimes by a scoop or basket spread over with 
pitch and attached to a pole; when the patch needs 
irrigation they resort to the same means to throw the 
water back from the canal or pond near by. The 
plants are thus kept flourishing so as to be transplanted 
at the first favorable moment, which is generally dur- 
ing the heavy rains of June, August or September. 
When the plants are between twelve and twenty 
inches in length they are ready for use, if less than 
twelve inches they would be liable to be covered with 

142 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 14:3 

water, if more than twenty inches they would be top 
heavy and fall down. The fields for planting are pre- 
pared the same as the nursery beds, plowed and 
harrowed. When the wet season has flooded tlie fields 
and the water is standing from six to ten inches dee}), 
then the whole population turn out and commence 
transplanting, called dam na, to dive into the rice fields, 
for they plunge the roots and three-fourths of the stalk 
in the soft mud. Each transplanter takes a handful of 
plants and wades into the water, then separating three or 
four stalks from the bunch he takes them with the toes of 
his right foot and crowds the roots down in the mud, 
then he takes another bunch of four stalks and plants 
it about ten or twelve inches from the other, measuring 
the distance by his eye so as to have the plants about 
a foot apart each way. It is said that a good trans- 
planter can complete a lot of about one third of an acre 
in a day. It is indispensable, after planting, to keep 
the fields thoroughly drenched, as the best crops are 
harvested from fields where the water has covered the 
half of the stalk until nearly the time when the rice is 
in ear. Even from that time till harvest, though the 
field should continue to be inundated, the crop will 
not necessarily suffer unless the wind should blow the 
straw over, which seldom occurs. Much of the rice is 
cut while standing a foot or two in the water. The 
crops are precarious and liable to be cut oft' by either 
too much or too little water; also, by worms and a 
kind of land crab that attacks the roots of the plant 
and frequently make sad havoc in the fields. Hands 
are employed for planting rice at the rate of from 
eight to ten ticals per month, at times when help is 
scarce the farmer has to pay an advance on this price. 



144: THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

If employed by the season, commencing at the begin- 
ning of the wet season in May till threshing time in 
December or Januarj^, a good hand receives one koyan 
of paddy, worth about sixty ticals or about $33, A 
rie of good soil will yield fifty buckets of paddy, poorer 
land less. The fields are all taxed by the rie, one-third 
of an acre, each field paying twenty-eight cents per 
annum. 

Rice is the great staple of Siam. It has been an 
article of export since 1856, when the treaty with Siam, 
then ratified, opened up the kingdom to foreign trade. 
Prior to that the laws of Siam required that a three- 
years' supply of rice should remain in the country 
before any was allowed to be shipped abroad. When 
this lavy was abolished a demand for rice sprung up, 
and the natives, learning that it was a cash commodity, 
commenced planting for export, and yearly the acreage 
has steadily increased, thousands of Chinamen engag- 
ing in the business. The demand for land has caused 
canals to be opened through sections which have lain 
fallow for centuries, and thousands of acres which were 
useless and breeders of malaria, now stretch out for 
miles with fields of grain, billows of emerald blades 
greeting the eye until lost in airy undulations on the 
rim of the horizon. The natives use the most primitive 
appliances in the cultivation of their fields — breaking 
up the ground with buffaloes and oxen attached to a 
wooden plow — but the soil is so prolific that the grain 
grows almost spontaneously. At times the fields 
require irrigation, the water for which is easily 
obtained from the rivers and canals which cross the 
country in every direction. As the land is level the 
water rises and falls with the tide, hence the canals 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 145 

require no locks, and are navigable for boats, which do 
all the carrying, since there are but few wagon roads 
which are traversed with buffalo carts — huge, unwieldy 
two-wheeled vehicles. 

The rice fields are laid off in lots of about one-third 
of an acre each — surrounded by an embankment of 
earth, from eighteen inches to two feet in height, for 
the purpose of holding water when the land is being 
prepared for planting or irrigation. 

To encourage the natives to open up new fields no 
tax is levied on the land the first five years. When 
matured the grain is cut with sickles and stacked simi- 
lar to American wheat, and when needed is tramped 
out by buffaloes and oxen, six or eight animals being 
attached to a post, around which the straw is strewn, 
and over which the cattle tramp round and round until 
the grain is separated from the straw. Then the straw 
is piled up for the cattle to eat, and the grain is win- 
nowed from the chaff and dirt in a machine, a Chinese 
invention of a thousand years ago. The rice for export — 
KowMoong and Kow Soon — is brought to the mills at 
Bangkok to be hulled, and then sacked for shippino-. 
The natives hull their rice for home consumption in 
wooden mortars with wooden pestles ; the latter they 
work with their feet, though many pound it out by 
hand. The first steam rice-mill at Bangkok was estab- 
lished by an American firm, but not finding it profit- 
able they disposed of their plant. ISTow the preparation 
of rice for market has grown into a prosperous business. 
The large crop last year and the increased demand has 
induced Messrs. Markwald & Co. and others to put 
electric lights into their mills, so that they can run 
night and day. There are now twenty-five steam rice- 



IttG THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

mills id Bangkok, one in course of construction, and 
three at Patriew, a city 30 miles west of the capital. 
Most of the mills are in charge of foreign engineers. 
The only fuel used in these mills is. the husk of the 
rice. Having traveled over a considerable portion of 
central Siam, I am satisfied that it has no superior as 
a rice-producing and fruit-growing country, and when 
it is opened up with railroads, and modern appliances 
are used to cultivate the soil, the crops will be quad- 
rupled. 

VAEIBTIES OF KICE. 

1. Na Moong, which is sown broadcast over the 
fields and allowed to mature without further care, and 
in a few years yields its annual crop in the form of 
wild rice. 

2. Na Soon, or garden rice, is allowed to grow to a 
certain height and is then transplanted. This is the 
rice of commerce, and is the best and highest priced of 
all grades. 

The unit of land measure is the rie, almost identical 
with the English land unit. The average yield per rie 
is one (1 ) coyan, which contains 20 to 22 piculs, accord- 
ing to the quality of the rice. 

The freight by steamer to Europe ranges from 33 to 
55 shillings per ton. The bulk of the Siamese rice crop 
is exported to China. The present rate is 32 cents per 
picul. 

Good judges estimate the daily consumption of rice 
by the average Siamese family to be from 1 to If 
cocoa-nut shells, or from 1 to If English quarts. 



XV. 

EXCESSIYE TAXATION OF THE PEOPLE. 

The King is the collector and disburser of the revenue 
of his kingdom and it is impossible for any one not 
conversant with the internal affairs of Siam to know 
what the amount of the revenue is, as it is derived 
from various sources: First, imports and exports; 
second, direct taxation, which is annexed ; third, dona- 
tions to His Majesty and the corvee. This latter is 
unlimited, as hundreds of thousands have to pay a 
personal tax ranging from ten to twenty ticals, and 
then the King, through his officials, has simply to 
notify one of his Governors that he is in need of some- 
thing and it is forthcoming ; such, for instance, a noti- 
fication to the Governor of Chantaboon that he wanted 
two hundred and forty logs of timber, fifty feet in 
length, for the purpose of erecting a premaine, crema- 
tion building, which it was expected that he would do 
at his own expense or see that his subordinates did so. 
Outside of this it is generally supposed that the 
revenue annually collected will amount to about $10,- 
000,000, all of which is unloaded into the King's 
treasury by the various farmers who have charge of 
the various taxes, they having purchased the right of 
collection, it being sold to the highest bidder, thus 
giving them and their subordinates an ample chance to 
squeeze the people indiscriminately. Annexed is the 
statement of the annual levy and source of revenue of 
the Siamese government : 

147 



14:8 THE PEARL OF ASIA- 

STATEMENT OF TAXES AND SOURCES OP REVENUE OF THE SIAMESE 

GOVERNMENT. 

(1) Taxes on exports: 

Priacipal article of export, rice, on which the duty is from 
10 to 12 cents per picul. 

(2) Taxes on imports: 

Uniform rate of 3 per cent, on the market value of the 
goods. 

(3) Taxes on cultivated lands: 

About 60 cents an acre. 

(4) Taxes on fruit trees, etc. • 

A list of the duties is given in the treaty. These taxes are 
in lieu of land tax. 

(5) The revenue derived from certain monopolies which are either in 

the hands of Government or farmed out by them, viz. : 
Preparation and sale of opium. 
Manufacture and sale of spirits. 
Tax on gambling-houses. 
The collection and sale of edible birds' nests. 
The collection of turtles' eggs. 

The manufacture and sale of cakes and confectionery. 
The manufacture of iron pans. 
The manufacture of iron. 
Taxes on prostitutes. 

(6) Taxes on houses, floating houses, shops, godowns, etc.; and on 

boats employed in a certain manner, viz.: 

Ticals. 

Boats engaged in carrying bricks. . .per fathom. . . 1 

Boats engaged in carrying sand do 1 

Boats engaged in carrying tiles do 1 

Boats hawking miscellaneous hard ware, do 1 

North country boats bringing goods to Bangkok 

for sale per fathom. . | 

Boats moored with goods for sale, for more than two 

months, but under twelve months, .per fathom. . i 
Boats moored with goods for sale, over twelve 

months per fathom , . 1 

Floating houses: 

With goods for sale per room . . 1| to 3 

Used as brothels do 3 

Used as lottery stations do 3 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 149 

Ticals. 

Used as gambling-houses. , ..... per room ... 3 

tJsed as liquor shops do 3 

Those rented out - do 3 

Houses godowns, shops, etc., on shore, with goods for sale, 
used as brothels, lottery stations, gambling houses, or liquor shops; 
also those rented out; if within the district guarded by the police, 
must pay 12^ per cent, of their annual rental; if not in the district 
of the police, must pay 8J per cent, of the rental. 
There is also a tax on fresh provision markets. 
(7) Inland taxes: 

Ticals. 
White sugar per picu.l . . JS^ 



<i 



Red sugar do. . . . 

Peper do. ... 1 

Per cent 

Fish (pla thoo) 8}i 

Teel seed 8}^ 

Beans 83^3 

Petchaboon tobacco 10 

Silk 8}.^ 

Beeswax 6^3 

Raw cotton 10 

Paw (vegetable fiber) 10 

Indigo 10 

Salt sea-fish 8^ 

Smoked fish 8}^ 

Fresh fish 8}£ 

Shrimp paste 10 

Charcoal 10 

Posts (wood) 10 

Cocoanut oil 10 

Red and white lime 10 

Palm sugar 10 

Molasses 8}{ 

Tin 10 

Fire wood 20 

Attap 10 

Kacheng 10 

Torches 10 

Resin 10 



150 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

Per cent. 

Oil of fang tree 10 

Rattans 10 

Bamboos 10 

Redwood 10 

Ticals. 

Onions and chilils per picul. . 10 

Hemp (for sails) do 10 

Vegetables do. . . . 5 

Pork do SX 

Fowls. do. . . . 8>^ 

Ducks do 8^ 

Eggs of fowls or ducks do 8^^ 

Per cent. 

Blackwood 10 

Mai Takean wood ; 10 

Wood called Mai Phya Loi 10 

Ticals. 

Salt (per coyan, or j% per cent, per picul.). . 6 

per cent. 

Teakwood . , 10 

Tobacco 10 

(8) Taxes on implements used for catching fish in salt or fresh water: 

Ticals. 
Rafts, in line, to which nets are attached, for each 

aperture 4 

Boats with large net per annum. . 10 

Boats with smaller net do. ... 6 

Boats with small net do. ... 1 

Boats with dragging net do. . : . 10 

Large round net streched on crossed bamboos with handle 

attached, per fathom 1}^ 

Spoon-net, with wider mouth than 10 cubits . . per annum. . 2 

A boat with big spoon net do. . . . 3^ 

A boat with small spoon net do. . . . % 

Basket used for catching fish in shallow water. . . .do. . . . J^ 

Net for the fish "Ta phien" per annum. . 1 

Harpoon or spear do. . . . % 

"Laup" a long trap or basket do 1^ 

A string of hooks do }4 

Each line for chawn or kado-fish do J^ 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 



161 



Small net stretched on two sticks per annum 

Scoop made of split bamboo do. . 

Other snares, from do . . 

Beds of water-plants in front of houses for attractiug 

fishes, per fathom 

Fish pools per fathom. 

The following are used in salt water : 

Fishing stakes, disposed in a circle per annum. 

Fishing stakes, disposed in a circle do. . . 

Fishing stakes, in triangular form, with net at 



Ticals. 



apex per annum . . 3 

One boat with hooks for dragging do. . . . 23^ 

Fence for confining shrimps do. . . . 1}^ 

Casting net do. ... 1 

Spoon net for shrimps and prawns do % 

Fishing stakes do 10 

A large fishing boat do. ... (> 

A very large net used by very many men do 12 

Boat for catching "pla kuraw" .do. . .*. 4 

"Lamoo" a large inclosure of bamboo .do 6 

"Lamoo" for deeper water do 20 

Close bamboo fence , do. . . . 12 

Close bamboo fence for deeper water. do 16 

, A kind of fishing net do 16 

Net for shrimps do 20 

Net for beche de mer do. . . . 24 

Spears for beche de mer , do 4 

Harpoon for turtle do 8 

Plank for sliding over the mud do ^ 

Hook and line do. . . -M to J^ 

(9) The revenue derived from money paid in commutation of 
Government service, to which all adult males are liable, to which 
may be added the services performed by cowee. 

(10) The revenue derived from a poll-tax of 4}^ ticals on Chinese 
every third year. 

(1 1) Taxes are also levied on theatrical representations and plays of 
various kinds. 

Ticals. 

Drama of ' 'Rama Kien" per diem . . 28 

Drama of "Anirut do 12 



toi^ 
H 

6 

12 



152 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 



Theatrical representation "Nang" each night. 

Chinese theater per diem. 

Chinese puppet show do. . . 

Drama "Ih Henao" do. . . 

Dramas, various kinds do. . . 

Singing do. . . 

Chinese theater (special) do. . . 



Ticals 

3 
1 

20 
3 

4 



Note. — A picul, 133>^ pounds avoirdupois ; a Siamese tical, 60 cents. 




XVI. 

THE KING'S INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS SON. 

Several years since His Majesty concluded to send 
several of his sons to England, for the purpose of hav- 
ing them educated at Cambridge and Oxford, but 
before doing so prepared a series of instructions for 
their guidance while in that far-off land, which are 
worthy of perpetuation as coming not only from a 
monarch, but a father who felt a deep interest in the 
welfare of his children. The following is a correct 
translation: 

' ' I desire to put my wishes in a form of written instructions for 
the guidance of my children who are being sent to receive their edu- 
cation in Europe, and I beg to enjoin upon them that they shall 
follow the instructions herein given. 

"First. My object in sending you is that you may obtain an 
education, and I have no desire to obtain renown and honor for 
you while pursuing your studies; and for this reason you may not 
assume the rack and title of Princes, but must assume the position 
of the son of persons of rank in Siam, namely, you may not use the 
title of ' His Royal Highness' prefixed to your names, but shall 
employ only your own personal names. If others shall prefix to your 
names the title of Mr. or add Esquire, according to English custom, 
let them do so without objection, but you must not use the Siamese 
prefix Nai, which is often used as a prefix to their names when pro- 
nounced in English by sons of noblemen, as corresponding to the 
title of Mr., as this has a disagreeable sound. To explain my wishes 
in regard to this matter plainly, the reason why I do not wish you 
to assume the title and rank of Princes as your uncles did who have 
preceded you are as follows; My wish does not arise from want of 
affection towards you or from a wish to prevent its being known 
that you are my children. Your father will certainly recog- 
nize you as his children, and will cherish his affection for you as it 

153 



154 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

is natural for a father always to love his children, but I consider 
that it will not be of any benefit for you to assume the title of Princes 
because there are few Princes in their country, and in our coun- 
try there are maoy ; and because they have but few Princes, they 
laud and honor them much more than we do, and if on our own 
part we should put ourselves on an equal footing with them, 
whereas we have not wealth and dignity equal to theirs, we should 
suffer in comparison and should make Siamese Princes appear 
inferior. Also, if we assume the rank of Princes we must keep up 
a dignity in all things that we do for the sake of appearance, and to 
make others admire us, and we must therefore be constantly on our 
guard. Even in purchasing anything a higher price must be paid 
than common people pay, because they consider us wealthy, and 
thus a useless expense is occasioned. Whether princes or common 
people, when in a foreign country, one has no power to make one 
more illustrious than the common people, and the only advantage 
Princes have is that they can enter assemblies of distinguished per- 
sons, but the sons of the people of rank will likewise be admitted to 
the same privileges enjoyed by Princes as regards society. For these 
reasons, I direct that you will not boast or allow any of your attend- 
ants to boast that you are Royal Princes, and I desire you to follow 
out these instructions, 

"2d. All the expenses of your education, including board and 
clothing, will be paid out of my privy purse, viz., the funds which 
are your father's private property and not funds used for defraying 
the ordinary expenses of the State. Thia fund will be deposited in 
the banks, and instructions will be sent to my minister to defray 
the expenses of your education out of this fund, namely : For the 
first five years' education each of you will receive £320 a year or 
£1,600 for the five years, and for the succeeding five yearsyouwill be 
allowed £400 a year, or £2,000 for the five years, making your 
complete education £3,600 each. As this fund will be deposited in 
the banks bearing interest, there will be a surplus over and above 
your educational expenses, which will be yours and can be used in 
whatever manner you please. The portion of each will be depos- 
ited in his own name, but before attaining the age of twenty-one 
years you will not be allowed to draw money on your own account 
and a person must be appointed to attend to this business for you. 
Tlie amount deposited and the name of the persons managing your 
business are given in separate instructions, which you will have to 
use in obtaining the money when needed. 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 155 

" I have considered it best to use my private funds and not the 
funds of the State, as has been done in the case of Princes and sons 
of the nobility heretofore. This opportunity and appropriation of 
funds for your education is a rich legacy of raore value than money, 
for an education is of lasting and personal value and nothing can 
harm it or take it away from you. It is my intention to send all 
my sons to receive the advantages of an education whether they are 
of quick intellect or dull, so far as opportunity shall offer, deeming 
it as an inheritance which I am giving to each of my children. 

"If I should use funds belonging to the State for this purpose, 
and it should turn out that this money was spent upon a person 
devoid of wisdom and who upon his return would do nothing to 
repay the State for the money expended upon him, it would give 
occasion to a certain class of people to find fault, and they might say 
that I had too many children and was obliged to draw large sums of 
money from the funds of the State for their educational expenses, 
and that I did not even make a selection of such as had ability and 
would prove of benefit to the State, but sent even the stupid and 
ignorant simply because they were my children and wasted money 
on them. I desire that there shall not beany derogatory remarks 
made in connection with my purpose to give my children these 
educational advantages, and have not, therefore, used any of the 
funds belonging to the State for this purpose. But even the funds 
in my privy purse are in a certain sense the property of the State and 
they are simply a portion which is set apart for your father's private 
use, and the purposes to which these funds are applied are charity 
and the maintenance and support of the family. I consider that the 
advantages of an education are of more value than other things and 
thisuseof money will be indirectly a benefit to the State, for the funds 
of the treasury of the State are not drawn upon for this purpose, 
and by this is avoided the various derogatory remarks which might 
be made, for the reason that your father uses his private funds for 
this purpose and no one can say that the money should be used for 
this or that purpose. 

" 3d. You will ever remember that although you are born princes 
and have dignity and honor thereby, yet it is not necessary that any 
person who may be the sovereign of this country will require your 
services for the State, and thus offer an opportunity for you to obtain 
honor and wealth for yourselves. 

"If the past be considered it will be found that there are less 
opportunities for princes to receive positions of trust and influence 



156 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

than for the sons of the nobility; for the reason that they having rank 
and honor by birth, can not accept inferior positions as stepping 
stones to something greater, for example, they can not become Nai 
Kong or Hum Preh or Royal Pages and tliey can not be appointed 
to such positions as would be in keeping with their rank without 
first having obtained experience and wisdom fitting them for such 
positions. For this reason a prince who shall become noted and 
receive an elevated appointment can do so only when he is pos- 
sessed of superior abilities. Therefore you are urged to pursue 
your studies with the greatest possible earnestness and faithfulness 
so that you may have an opportunity to do something which will be 
a benefit to your country and to the world in which you live. To 
consider that being born princes it is better to remain quiet and 
enjoy yourselves through life is not very different from the lower 
animals which are born, eat, sleep and die. But some animals have 
hides, and horns and bones, which remain and are of benefit after 
they die, but people who conduct themselves like animals are not of 
as much use as certain animals even. For this reason make an 
effort to gain an education, which will enable jov. to make yourselves 
better than the lower animals and thus you will be considered as 
having repaid your father's affection and efforts for your benefit and 
the care which has been expended upon you from your birth. 

"4th. Do not consider that, because you are the sons of a king 
and your father is all powerful in his country, that you can there 
fore be unruly and obstinate, and need to fear no one and can mis- 
use and abuse others and they will make no complaint or resistance. 
This is entirely wrong. Your father's desire is that his sons shall 
not have any such power to be unruly, as he feels certain that a 
misapplied affection to one's children, which allows them to fear no 
one, will be injurious to them in the present and future. For this 
reason you must remember that whenever you do wrong, you must 
suffer the consequent punishment, and the fact that your father is a 
king will not save you from such punishment. Again, the life of a 
man is of short duration and is not as enduring as iron or stone, 
and although now you have a father living, the time will certainly 
come when you will be without him. If you do wrong while your 
father is living, even if you are able to cover it up for a time, after, 
your father is gone, your faults will appear to your disadvantage 
and will follow you as a shadow. Therefore you must be teachable 
and not headstrong, you must always endeavor to do right and 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 157 

avoid that which you know yourself to be wrong, or which you are 
taught is wrong by others. 

"5th, The funds provided for your expenses, you must econo- 
mize, and you must not be prodigal and extravagant, believing your- 
selves to be rice princes, or that your father is a king and has plenty 
of money. I warn you from the beginning, that if any one of you 
shall return in debt, such debts shall not be paid for yuu, or if it 
shall be necessary to pay them, you will not escape punishment, 
you may know that whenever your debts have to be paid, you must 
receive punishmeni . Do not believe anything said to the contrary 
or fancy that you can be extravagant as some who have preceded 
you whose fathers were noblemen and who have paid their debts 
without objection. If you have this idea you are entirely wrong. 
Your father does indetd love his children, but he does not love such 
conduct in his children, for he certainly knows that if he should 
allow you to do so, it would be of no possible benefit to the children 
who receive his love, as you would not in that case receive the edu- 
cation, which I desire you to obtain, but would gain only practices 
which would disgrace yovi and give continual annoyance to others. 
You must always remember that this money which seems a large 
amount to you now, is not as easily obtained as as it is expended. 
The yearly portion which you always receive comes to you through 
your father, and the money which your father receives is that 
which comes to him as being the ruler and sovereign of the country, 
and is the contribution of the people for the support of their sover- 
eign, that he may enjoy it with happiness, as a recompense for his 
labors in this exalted position, namely that of the guardian of their 
welfare. This money should not be spent for useless and injurious 
purposes and should only be employed for objects which will be of 
real benefit to one's self and to others. Is it fitting to pay it away 
for the debts of one's children who have squandered money in evil 
practices ? For this reason I must declare that I will not pay your 
debts, and if I am compelled to do so there must be a penalty which 
will serve as a guarantee that I shall not be obliged to do so again ; 
the penalty must be sufficient to cause such a one to avoid a repe- 
tition of such actions, then only will the debt be paid, and it will 
only be done for the sake of preventing loss to the creditor, and not 
out of love for the child or pleasure in his conduct, therefore you 
will remember and consider that you are poor and have only suffi- 
cient means to support yourselves comfortably and are not lich as 
the wealthy In Europe. Persons of wealth in Europe have inherited 



158 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

it from generation to generation and receive rent and interest from 
various sources, but you receive a certain sum from the people 
sufficient for your support and keeping up your dignity. Do not 
be ostentatious and try to imitate them, and to make a vain dis- 
play. 

" When you have contracted debts and you fear your father will 
not pay them, or in case he does, he will impose a penalty, do not 
think you can use the annual allowance which is laid by for you 
and accumulating while you are abroad, to pay such debts. If you 
should think so and therefore contract debts while abroad it will be 
likewise wrong for all the advantages which you enjoy while your 
father lives, or which may continue after he has passed away, you 
can not say that they will remain always the same, and as you grow 
older you will have families to provide for and will need money for 
your support, and possibly your income may not be sufficient for 
your expenditures. You can not be sure that your education will 
give you positions of influence and remuneration equal to your 
wants, for the reason that the fact of your being princes may posrsi- 
bly at some future time, be a barrier to your holding office, and if 
you should turn to business pursuits such as receiving employment 
as clerks, etc., there will still be difficulties in consequence of your 
being princes. If your capital is all spent in the payment of debts 
where will you then find your support? Therefore I say if you 
think of spending such funds as these so as not to annoy your 
father it will still be the cause of future difficulties and embarrass- 
ments which you ought not to bring upon yourselves. 

' ' 6th. The education which you are to receive will consist of 
the acquiring the fluent and accurate use of three languages, 
English, German and French, so that you will be able to compose 
in at least two of these languages. Also that you must acquire a 
practical knowledge of mathematics. These two branches you 
must acquire with proficiency, for they are the foundation of all 
other studies. Next to these you must acquire a knowledge of the 
sciences and arts, but I can not now decide upon the exact course 
of study which you are to pursue. This will be decided upon 
after you have acquired a knowledge of the primary branches. I 
wish, however, to impress it upon your minds that in sending you 
to acquire a European education, I do not wish that you shall pos- 
sess only a knowledge of European languages and sciences. The 
Siamese, which is your own native language, you will have occasion 
to make use of always, and you must consider that the European 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. " 159 

languages are to be the foundation of your knowledge, because 
Siamese books are few and old, for the reason that there has been 
little intercourse with foreign countries, which is different from 
what has been the case in Europe, where bj the constant inter- 
course and interchange of ideas, great advance has been made in 
knowledge. For this reason, there can not be sufficient knowledge 
obtained from Siamese books, and therefore it is necessary to study 
foreign languages so as to obtain a larger field of knowledge and 
then this knowledge can be introduced into the Siamese language. 
Therefore it is not at all wise or suitable for you to forget your own 
language so that you can not express yourselves properly, or forget 
how to write the Siamese language. If you acquire a knowledge 
of foreign languages only, and cannot read and write and translate 
into the Siamese language correctly, it will be of no practical advan- 
tage, because in this case we can employ as many foreigners as we 
wish. 

" What is wanted is that you shall be able to translate from the 
Siamese language into a European language, and from one or more 
European languages into Siamese ; thus only will your education be 
complete. Do not consider that having studied foreign languages 
and forgotten your own it will make you appear highly fashionable, 
as some students have wrongly supposed. While you are pursuing 
your studies I wish each of you to write a letter to your father at 
least once a month in Siamese, until you can write English or some 
other European language, after which you must write in English, or 
some other language besides Siamese, and send also a translation in 
Siamese, because you are still young and your knowledge of Siamese 
is not yet permanently fixed. You will therefore consult your 
Siamese teachers who accompany you or search in your Siamese 
text books with which you are provided, and you will thus find suit- 
able language in which to express yourselves in translating frum 
a foreign language into Siamese. The Siamese books which can be 
of help to you are still very few, it is true. Whatever mistakes arc 
made in these letters will be corrected, and these corrections be stnt 
to you and you must remember these mistakes and avoid them in 
future. Do not be afraid or ashamed, but do the best you can, and 
if you make such mistakes they will be corrected, and you will not 
lose or suffer anything by it. 

"7th. You must remember that the education of all my children 
is entrusted to your uncle, Krom Mun Devawongse Varoprakann, 
who has solemnly promised me to do his best during the present and 



160 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

future to attain tlie best possible results, and I have confidence in 
him and have given him full authority to manage all matters here 
in connection with your education . 

" If you have any difficulties or business of any kind, you must 
■write to him, and your father will know of it through him . 

" Krom Mun Devawongee will manage everything and bring it 
to a successful accomplishment. In Europe, if you are in a country 
where I have a minister, this minister will arrange your affairs for 
you, and whatever difficulties you may experience you must tell 
them to the minister and he will help you. 

" When you enter school you must follow the rules, and must 
not be headstrong or obstinate. Be industrious and studious, that 
you may return and be a help and a blessing to your father, and 
thus repay him for his love." 



XTH. 

FUNERAL OF A CHINESE MANDAEIN. 

A novel sight is frequently witnessed in Bangkok, con- 
veying the remains of a mandarin from his residence to 
one of the Hong Kong steamers, so that it can be trans- 
ported to the home of his nativity and buried beside 
his parents. The boat that contains the coffin is filled 
with friends and relatives, all dressed in white, that 
being the color of their mourning garments, this is 
accompanied by other boats decorated and containing 
musicians, priests and others making quite a display. 
The beating of gongs and blowing of horns announce 
that the flotilla is coming, generally five or six boats, 
that containing the corpse in the lead. The body is 
encased in a handsome coffin covered with gilding and 
elaborately carved, more like an ornamented chest 
than a coffin, and on it is fastened a beautiful white 
bantam rooster ; over the casket is suspended a pavilion 
and above it two blue banners and two large blue lan- 
terns with other decorations. As soon as the steamer 
is reached the casket is placed in the hold with the 
rooster still on it, and by the time the vessel reaches its 
destination the doomed bird has also gone out into the 
unknown with the spirit of the son of the celestial. I 
failed to learn why a rooster was thus sacrificed, 
though it is supposed that the purity of the white bird 
might aid in blotting out some of the sins of the 
deceased or possibly his spirit would seek it as a taber- 

161 



162 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

nacle to dwell in during his transmigrations. It is a 
curious custom of this curious people. 

At times the passing of a funeral flotilla is quite a 
gorgeous pageant; the weird music, loud sounding 
gongs, the beating of torn toms and shrill notes of the 
flute, the measured dip of oars and fluttering of flags 
of various colors, fringed with gold and silver, furnish 
the spectator with a panorama of oriental splendor 
that remains indellibly photographed on the margent 
of memor}''. The remains of a Chinese mandarin lies 
in state about one hundred days, during which time 
bonzes, or priests, pray for the soul of the departed 
singers chaunt their natire hymns and songs, theatri- 
cal performances are held and clowns perform all kinds 
of antics to drive away the gloom and sorrow of 
the family, to make them forget their loss, they also 
think this pleases the spirit of the dead who is supposed 
to be hovering around to see what disposition is being 
made of his earthly casket. During this time lamps 
are constantly burning to drive away evil spirits 
and a feast spread for their entertainment while the 
priests in attendance and the family are regaled with 
choice viands and feasted sumptuously. 

As their religion makes them fatalists they do not 
seem to grieve much on account of the death of a rela- 
tive, but they leave nothing undone for the care and 
sepulcherof the dead ; they see that his debts are paid, 
his family properly cared for and his grave located in 
a pleasant place where the sunshine can fall upon it and 
face a running stream of water, or the wide expanse of 
gulf or ocean. Their tombs or vaults are built in the 
shape of a horse shoe and present quite a curious ap- 
pearance, as they are arranged in rows. Frequently 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 163 

the graveyard is located on the side of a hill, which is 
terraced for the purpose. That at Hong Kong is one 
of the curiosities of the place while the cemetery at 
Canton covers many acres and is closely filled with 
their tombs. 

Modern skeptics could learn much from these stoical 
Asiatics who thus care for the bodies of their deceased 
relatives, which proves conclusively that their belief in 
the beatitude of the life to come is serious and well 
founded, that they will live again in the hereafter and 
meet beyond the invisible river in the celestial iN'ir- 
vana, a reunion that shall be eternal, where the heavenly 
savannahs undulating far away shall yield the 
choicest rice, the waters that flow through emerald 
vales be plethoric with fish, umbrageous trees that 
furnish shade bend to the earth with choicest fruit, 
birds of rarest plumage fill the groves with melody and 
demoselles, fairer than the blush of morn, welcome them 
to joys supernal, a land of dreamy wantonness that 
they have caught glimpses of after inhaling the 
poppies languorous power, the curse of the mongolian. 



XVIII. 

EOYAL PALACES AT BANG-PA-IlSi AND 
KATBUEEE. 

Siam is a land of legends that run back into the 
storied past, when an almost unknown civilization 
flourished ere its present religion, from a faint spark 
was blown into a blaze bj the saintly Gautama, the 
Buddha of the East, whose myriads of followers have 
reared their temples on mount and in emerald vales 
and beside flowing rivers, whose white walls and gilt 
spires dot the landscape far and wide and from their 
cloistered halls can be heard at early morn the beat of 
drums and the clangor of bells summoning the faithful 
to prayer, or to listen to the reading of the sacred works 
of the great teacher, whose statues are held in special 
reverence by the Buddhist, as do many of our people tiae 
cross, merely symbols of their belief, no one regarding 
Buddha as a divinity, solely a great teacher who incuU 
cated charity, morality and benevolence to the fullest 
extent, the genesis of Buddhist belief to-day as it was for 
centuries before the son of Mary proclaimed his 
divine truths on Olivet, and gave us his universal prayer 
that has been a solace to the seeker after truth for 
nineteen centuries. Such was my thoughts as I sped 
past many beautiful wats on my way up the Menam 
to Bang-Pa-In, the king's summer palace, which is 
considered the handsomest place in the kingdom. The 
palace is built in semi-oriental style and surrounded 
with spacious grounds laid out in the most elaborate 

164 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. IGd 

manner and skill, under the charge of an experienced 
Swiss landscape gardner, filled with all the flowers the 
orient can boast of, a wealth of floral beauty, paths 
winding in serpentine sinuosity in every direction, 
skirting miniature lakes on whose placid waters float 
mammoth Victoria reginas and the fragrant lotus, 
mirroring a number of buildings nestled on their 
margins, set apart as the habitations of favorite Queens, 
the main building being reserved for his Majesty, 
through which we were shown by his retainers, he 
being absent, and it was well worth the visit. It is 
such a spot as Bulwer describes, when he pictures a 
palace by the lake of Como, " lifting to eternal summer 
its marble walls from out a grove of greenest foliage 
musical with birds. " The palace is built in the 
modern style, by an Italian architect, of brick and 
stuccoed white, its interior panneled with padoo, ebony 
and other rare woods of the kingdom, the hard wood 
polished like a mirror bringing out the fine grain, the 
ceilings are lofty and laid off in handsome designs and 
elaborately gilded, the floors a mosaic of many kinds 
of wood and highly polished, each room different and 
furnished according to the finish. The broad flight of 
stairs that lead to the upper story, the King's sleeping 
apartments, were the most elaborate and handsomest 
that I have ever seen, the carving being most artisti- 
cally executed, in keeping with the entire building, 
large mirrors, tapestry, and handsome pictures graced 
the walls on every side. 

The King's chamber, bath and toilet rooms were 
magnificent and his couch a thing of beauty. It was 
made of ebony and carved with the most exquisite 
designs, draped with rare lace curtains trimmed with 



166 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

gold, a gold embroidered quilt covering the mattress, 
the pillows and bolster trimmed with gold lace and it 
looked more like a work of art, to please the eye, than 
the resting place of one who wears a crown and sways 
the destiny of ten million people. Each room was fur- 
nished in the richest manner many containing rare 
padoo tables, handsome cabinets, crystal and alabaster 
vases, etc. It was just such a place as one tired with 
pomp and power could spend a month most pleasantly 
in, in oriental ease, waited on by jewelled Queens and 
servile servitors, lulled to slumber by the fragrant 
breath of the lotus and the carrolling of birds amid the 
hush of the golden afternoon. In the center of several 
of the lakes pavilions have been erected where a 
band discourses music and on their rippling surface 
float barges to bear the wives and children of the 
King from sylvan spot to marble steps as fancy dic- 
tates. In various parts of the garden are large cages 
containing monkeys, birds and animals that add no little 
to the picturesqueness of the scene. In the palace is 
preserved a rare collection of serpents found in the 
dank vegetation of this country, some unknown in 
other sections. 

For a couple of hours we strolled through the well- 
kept grounds and gardens, fifty persons being con- 
stantly employed in beautifying and keeping them in 
order. On an island in the river, amid a grove of 
emerald verdure, has been erected a memorial chapel 
to the memory of the late Queen, a handsome gothic 
structure with stained glass windows, more like a 
Christian church than a Buddhist temple. The Queen 
was drowned by the overturning of a yacht and in the 
palace grounds a handsome marble monument has also 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 167 

been erected, detailing the circumstances of that sad 
event. As our time was limited we had to take a 
hurried view of this lovely place, with its various 
palaces scattered over its floral grounds, the tall orien- 
tal watch tower that stands like a sentinel looking 
down on all its sylvan lakes mirroring the bluest of 
skies, but the shrill whistle of the boat reminded us 
that time was up and with a sigh of regret we left 
Bang-Pa-In, its world of flowers, towering trees, 
fragrant atmosphere and paradisacal beauty, an elysium 
where one could dream life away without a pang or 
wish for wordly honors, the Nirvana of a poet. 

While on the wing, in company with several others, 
after a couple of days travel in our boats we reached the 
city of Katburee and after spending some time in the 
palace of the late Eegent, were furnished with a convey- 
ance to visit a royal palace that had been erected a 
number of years since by the King on a small mountain 
about four miles from the city. The carriage was a 
dilapidated affair, the best of over a dozen rotting 
down in the carriage house, paint and grease having 
been strangers to them for years, but it bore our party 
over the broad and smooth avenue safely to the foot 
of the mount where a handsome stone walk and steps 
led up to the palace, a massive pile of stone and brick, 
beautiful in architectural design and romantically 
situated. From its broad verandas and columned porti- 
cos a lovely view of the country for miles can be seen, 
in the far distance, the blue mountains of Burmah; a 
palace seemingly worthy of any monarch. Slowly mount- 
ing upwards a hundred feet we were ushered through 
its portals by an attendant who vvas in charge of the 
place and were surprised to note the ruin and desola:. 



168 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

tion that prevailed throughout the whole establish- 
ment, raagnificient in its decay; the ceilings of rare 
wood, handsomely ornamented, were falling off and 
littered the marble floor of the reception room and a 
massive chandelier, hanging by a frail support, was 
ready to fall, many of its prisms already broken oflP. 
Most of the furniture of the place had been stolen and 
what was left evinced good taste; the kamoys or 
thieves having had good pickings, carrying off every- 
thing portable. This palace had been erected at con- 
siderable expense by the present monarch and to ex- 
pedite the work a railroad was built from the river to 
the foot of the mountain, for the purpose of conveying 
the heavy material of which it was constructed, the 
rails are now turning to rust and the cars falling to 
pieces, no longer of any use, and the dwelling of the 
King is tenantless, its foundations crumbling and its 
walls toppling to a fall. It was heart rending to see 
this magnificent edifice thus deserted while thousands 
of the natives had but flimsjT- bamboo huts to reside in, 
a type of the stagnation of the East. After its com- 
pletion His Majesty spent but one week within its 
walls and as it is possible that he will never occupy it 
again it will slowly yield to the ravages of time, crum- 
ble into a shapeless mound and thus add another pile 
to this land of many ruins, the very air of which is 
freighted with lethargy and indolence. The custodian 
of the place informed us that since the death of the 
late Regent, Ratburee had almost ceased to be a royal 
city and that bands of dacoits and kamoj'^s roamed 
through the country at pleasure, bidding defi- 
ance to the officials who, being too far away from 
Bangkok, were powerless to check their ravages. 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 169 

Extensive rice fields surround the city for many miles, 
groves of palm and bamboo enliven the view and thus 
break the monotony of an almost prairie country. 
Dr. Thompson and wife are the only white persons in the 
place, leading a lonesome life, they are connected with 
the Presbyterian misson and are doing much good 
among the natives, the King having kindly granted 
them a palace to reside in and for hospital purposes. 
The missionary doctors are fast superceeding the native 
practitioners, and as far as getting into the confidence 
of the native, one doctor can do more real good in 
advancing western ideas than a brigade of missionaries — 
the lancet being a more potent weapon than the bible 
among the followers of Buddha. On the outskirts of 
the city are tlie foundations of two immense buildings, 
that had been started by some Prince, but he dying, 
the work was stopped and the buildings abandoned, that 
being the usual course pursued by the Siamese as they 
believe that the originator would get the merit of the 
work if it was completed. Some of the stones in these 
foundations were of immense size and it is marvellous 
how they were placed in position by manual labor, as 
they have no other means of working, a derick seem- 
ingly unknown. The Eegent's palace, a magnificent 
building and the best in the city, is handsomely fur- 
nished and was occupied by one of his grandsons, who 
was very proud of his collection of knives, manufac- 
tured b}'' the natives, hundreds of them, which were 
displayed on the walls, and an unique collection of tea 
pots, from the gold one presented by the King down 
to the tiniest one of the mandarin china, worth ten 
times its weight in gold. The grounds around this 
palace were handsomely laid out with fountains and 



170 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

reservoirs for irrigation, at times the heat there being 
intense. On the fa§ade of the main entrance mottoes 
in English were carved: ''Charity," "Virtue," 
"Benevolence," which seemed strangely out of place in 
that far away Eastern city, whose highways and 
bazars were thronged with the followers of Gautama. 
We had a call from the Governor who invited us to his 
palace, which is situated on the opposite side of the 
river, surrounded by massive walls with retainers at 
the gates, and he received us royally in a large 
sala, which was covered with a bamboo carpet woven 
in one piece. Tea and other refreshments were handed 
around and he wondered why I should bring my 
wife so far when women were a drug in the market, 
while the natives were much impressed with her dress 
and carriage, as she was taller than the average women 
and many had never seen an American lady. "While 
there we had a chance to note how justice was dis- 
j)ensed. A p(^liceman led in a trembling native and 
vyeing before the Governor proceeded to relate the 
offence that the crouching culprit was charged with. 
The Governor asked the policeman a few questions and 
then told him to take the fellow out and hit him ten 
strokes with the bamboo. The prisoner had pilfered 
some fruit. He got off easily, most of the time the Gov- 
ernor sentences them to the stockades for a month or 
more, and once there the jailer gets him in his debt and 
the chains once on they rarely come off till his body is 
cremated or given to the vultures. While a prisoner he 
is made to work for the Governor or some other noble, 
w^ithout pay or emolument, and his friends, if he has 
any, have to furnish him with rice and clothes. Truly 
the way of the transgressor in this country is hard and 



THE PEARL OF ASIA, 171 

the jailers make it harder, so as to induce the relatives 
of the prisoner to buy them out by paying the extor- 
tionate charges thej^ run up to the account of the un- 
fortunate that may fall into their clutches. A visit to 
the stockade was sufficient to convince anyone that 
Dante's inscription of Inferno vt^ould not be out of 
place here. The prisoners were confined in a place 
about an acre in extent, closed in with a double row of 
bamboo posts about twelve feet high, with a row of 
open sheds on one side in which the manacled occu- 
pants slept on the ground. Filth of all kind abounded 
and the stench was akin to that of a durian. The 
inmates,about forty in number, were squatting around 
and perfectly callous, they had apparently cast hope 
behind and were waiting to be translated to some other 
sphere. They were in for numerous crimes ; a few for 
murder, the latter had been in the stockade over three 
years and had had no trial, virtually the Governor's 
slaves. Leaving there and wandering out under the 
trees that were clothed in the loveliest of blossoms, the 
air freighted with their perfume, I could scarcely realize 
that so much suffering existed in this land of sunshine 
where man alone seemed vile. Just beyond the Gov- 
ernor's palace flowed the majestic fiver bearing on its 
pellucid bosom many boats, some from where the glit- 
tering fountains lave the flowery meads of Burmah, 
others from the sparkling waters of the gulf, and 
beyond the white walls of the temples and palaces of the 
city, while far away, fringed with fern and palm and 
tamarind tree, the stream shrank to a slender thi-ead and 
was lost in the dip of the horizon. This was our first 
visit to the interior and we were astonished at the fer- 
tility of the soil and the resources of this favored 



172 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

section. It requires but little labor to raise a crop and 
the native does not care to make any more than enough 
to pay his rent, taxes and to subsist on, fearful of be- 
ing squeezed, and well he may be, if one-half the tales 
told of grasping of&cials are correct. In the interior 
justice is a misnomer and no one expects it. The man 
that has the first say or is a favorite or relative of the 
powers that be, generally wins and it is useless to 
appeal to the King ; their petitions will be suppressed 
and never reach him. The Governors of provinces are 
supreme and accumulate large fortunes out of the 
miseries of their subjects. "When the shades of evening 
fell we turned the prows of our boats down stream and 
after winding through numerous canals and floating 
down a couple of rivers we found ourselves again at 
Bangkok, 



XIX. 

THE LEGAL OATH ADMINISTERED TO 
WITNESSES. 

The Siameso have regularly appointed judges and 
various courts are held for the purpose of trying crim- 
inals and the settlement of disputes. Among the oaths 
administered to witnesses, after they are taken to a 
Buddhist temple by an officer of the court, is the an- 
nexed. It has been partially amended by the judges 
in Bangkok, but is still used in the interior towns and 
villages and would seem to be binding enough for all 
practical purposes. This oath was translated and pub- 
lished in the Siam Advertiser a number of years since 
and pronounced correct by Siamese scholars. Some- 
thing similar is taken by the officers and officials of 
the palace when they drink the water of allegiance. 
Such oaths should stick if there is anything in tall 
swearing : 

"I, who have been brought here as a witness in this 
matter, do now in the presence of the sacred image of 
Buddha, declare that I am wholly unprejudiced against 
either party and uninfluenced in any way by the opin- 
ions or advice of others ; that no prospects of pecuniary 
advantage or advancement to office have been held out 
to me. I also declare that I have not received any 
bribe on this occasion. If what I have now to say be 
false, or if in my further averments I shall color or per- 
vert the truth so as to lead the judgment of others 
astray, may the Three Holy Existences before whom I 

173 



174 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

now stand together with the nine glorious Thewedas of 
the twenty-two firmaments punish me. If I have not 
seen and yet shall say I have seen ; if I shall say I 
know that which I do not know, then may I be thus 
punished. Should innumerable descendants of Deity 
happen for the regeneration and salvation of mankind, 
may my erring and migratory soul be found beyond 
the pale of their mercy. Wherever I go may I be 
compassed with dangers and not escape from them, 
whether murderers, robbers, spirits of the earth, woods, 
or water or air, or all the divinities who adore Buddha; 
or from the gods of the four elements and all other 
spirits. May the blood pour out of every pore of my 
skin, that my crime may be made manifest to the 
world. May all or any of these evils overtake me 
within three days or may I never stir from the spot on 
which I now stand; or may the lightning cut rae in 
two so that I may be exposed to the derision of the 
people ; or if I should be walking abroad, may I be torn 
in pieces by either of the supernaturally endowed lions 
or destroyed by poisonous serpents. If on the water 
of the river or ocean may supernatural crocodiles or 
great fish devour me ; or may the winds and waves 
overwhelm me, or may the dread of such evils keep me 
a prisoner during life, at home, estranged from every 
pleasure. May I be inflicted with intolerable oppres- 
sion of m}^ superiors, or may a plague cause my death. 
After which may I be precipitated into hell, there to 
go through innumerable stages of torture, amongst 
which may I be condemned to carry water over the 
flaming regions in wicker baskets to assuage the heat 
of Than Tretonwan, when he enters the infernal hell 
of justice, and thereafter may I fall into the lowest pit 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 175 

of hell ; or if these miseries should not ensue may I 
after death migrate into the body of a slave and 
suffer all the pain and hardship attending the worst 
state of such a being during the period measured by 
the sand of the sea, or may I animate the body of an 
animal, or be a beast during five hundred generations, 
or be born a hermaprodite five hundred times, or en- 
dure in the body of a deaf, dumb and houseless beggar 
every species of disease, during the same number of 
generations and then may I be hurried to narok and 
there be tortured by Phya Yam." 



XX. 

INSTALLATIOiSr OF THE CROWN" PRINCE. 

One of the grandest pageants ever witnessed in 
Bangkok was the occasion of declaring the Crown 
Prince heir to the throne of Siam. The ceremonies 
lasted four days and commenced with a grand proces- 
sion within the palace walls to which the consular 
body and foreign residents were invited. A large 
pavilion had been erected for the nobles and consular 
body immediately opposite the royal pavilion to which 
the guests were escorted along the broad avenue, which 
was covered with matting, through long lines of soldiers 
standing at a present, their burnished rifles flashing 
brightly in the dazzling sun. At intervals were sta- 
tioned five bands, modern music, while old Siam was 
represented by horns, torn toms, and drums of an 
oblong shape which the performers struck with their 
hands making a mournful sound. Waiting about an 
hour, at 6 p. m. the bugles blared, the loud reverbera- 
tion of cannon was borne to our ears on the sultry air, 
the bands struck up the national air of Siam, the troops 
became alert and over 50,000 persons stood up to wit- 
ness the coming of the King. Pie was preceded by a 
body guard of nobles carrying fasces and over their 
state dress they wore lace mantles, immediately in 
front was borne his sword with jeweled hilt and his 
palanquin, of gold and silver, borne on the shoulders of 
eight of the highest nobles, over him the royal canopy, 
surrounded by six attendants, who carried miniature 

176 




The Crown Prince, Heir Apparent to the Thr 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 177 

pagodas on gilded staffs. The King was clad in 
a robe of yellow silk encrusted with gold embroidery, 
purple silk panung, violet colored siJk stockings, slip- 
pers embroidered with gold and jewels, and a flexible 
gold belt, the buckle of which was studded with dia- 
monds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires, across his breast 
he wore a broad silk scarf from which was suspended 
a number of medallions and orders flashing with 
rare gems, carrying in his hand a white helmet. 
Reaching the pavilion he stepped gracefully 
from his chair, bowed twice to the diplomats 
and nobles and then seated himself on his throne, a 
massive affair^, heavily gilded. The pavilion was 
draped with silk curtains of gold and scarlet, the steps 
that led to it were covered with crimson velvet carpet 
as was the Hoor. By the side of the throne, on a gilt 
table, stood a large betel box, cigar case and cuspidor, 
of solid gold, handsomely chased with Siamese figures, 
typical of the legends of the days when Buddha walked 
the earth and taught the nations of the East a doctrine 
that has outlived a score of dynasties and has still mil- 
lions of followers. As soon as the King was seated a 
dozen iacon girls came sweeping down the avenue, 
dressed in their peculiar costume, with flowers in their 
hands, intended to represent angels bearing gifts. A 
procession then formed, made up of nobles, women and 
girls, men and boys, representatives dressed in the 
costumes of the various provinces of Siam, in the cen- 
ter of which was borne the Crown Pnnce, a bright 
eyed youth of ten summers, who was escorted by 
twelve nobles, promment among them the Kmg of 
Changmai and the ex-Kramata, late Foreign Minister, 
his sponsers. He was carried on a gold chair, preceded 



178 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

by five girls, dressed like angels, bearing his gold 
betel box, tea pot and other utensils, canopied with a 
royal umbrella and surrounded by servitors carrying 
fasces and other paraphernalia. Reaching the throne 
he stepped off his chair and was seated at the feet of 
his father. The procession having passed the King 
and Prince retired and soon reappeared, the King with 
his royal robe on, a cloak of gold that reached nearly 
to his ankles and on his head a crown made in the 
shape of a pagoda, fourteen inches in height, of the 
purest gold, studded with jewels, surmounted with a 
diamond of fabulous value, weighing a number of 
pounds. He was forced to fasten it on to keep it from 
toppling to one side, a very uncomfortable headgear 
for the wearer, a literal carrying out of the assertion 
" uneasy is the head that wears a crown." The Crown 
Prince, also, wore a crown of similar shape, a 
mass of jewels ; he was dressed in white 
silk and before he put on his crown his topet or tuft 
of hair, that each Siamese youth wears, was encircled 
with a coronet of diamonds set in silver, his collar, at 
least eight inches deep, was elaborately embroidered 
with diamonds as was the breast and cuffs of his coat, 
around his neck was swung a medallion of his father 
encased with brilliants, his fingers were hooped with 
gems and around each ankle were six anklets of gold 
encrusted with precious stones, the fastenings of his 
coat were five buttons as large as a filbert, diamonds set 
in a filigree of gold, his belt and slippers were also a 
mass of priceless gems, making up a costume regally 
beautiful, the value of which could not be computed 
under a half miUion of dollars. Other of the King's 
children were present in the pavilion and they also 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 179 

were covered with jewels, diamonds being the favorite. 
One of them wore a chain of emeralds and diamonds 
that crossed over the shoulder like a sash and fastened 
in front with a lovely sapphire clasp ; another a sapphire 
chain worn similarly, each sapphire being surrounded 
with small diamonds and clasped with a royal ruby, 
others wore pendants and medallions, family heir 
looms. It would be impossible to compute the value 
of the jewels worn by the royal children alone, it be- 
ing reported that the King had presented the Crown 
Prince with jewels to the value of $400,000 and the 
presents from Princes and nobles exceeded that sura. 
Those worn by the leading Siamese, who were in 
attendance, were also of inestimable value, most of 
whom were decorated with orders and medallions and 
wore heavy gold chains and gold belts, the clasps of 
which were works of art, scintillating with rare gems, 
while the buttons on some of their coats were costly 
solitaires, literally gems of Golconda. It was indeed a 
royal sight to look over the vast array of noblemen 
dressed in coats of gold and silver damascene cloth, 
silk panungs and stockings, with broad yellow, green 
and red sashes thrown across their breasts, their jewels 
sparkling, while among them were seated a number of 
officers of the army and navy in showy uniforms. 

After the procession had filed by the King, Prince 
and attendant nobles repaired to the royal wat adja- 
cent where the Prince Arch Bishop, assisted by ten 
Bishops, offered up prayers for the welfare of His 
Majesty and the Crown Prince, during which time the 
guests were regaled with ices, tea, cigars, etc. In 
about an hour the drums beat, the King returned, the 
procession reformed and marched before him, he then 



180 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

took off his royal robe and crown, the palanquins were 
brought up and the King and Prince stepping into 
them were borne back to the palace, His Majesty bowl- 
ing repeatedly, returning his thanks to the diplomats 
and others for their attendance and requesting that 
they be present on the morrow. The bands tlien struck 
up, the soldiers marched off at a double quick, the 
crowd poured forth through the gates and seeking our 
carriage we were swiftly borne home. At night the 
palace and grounds were handsomely illuminated with 
electric lights, gas and colored lanterns while lacon per- 
formances and feasting were kept up till midnight. This 
was repeated on the two days following and on the 
fourth day at 10 a. m. the grand ceremony of the 
water rite was commenced. At an early hour a steady 
stream of humanity, old and young, dressed in holiday 
attire, flowed toward the palace, that being the main 
day, and by the hour named there could not have been 
less than 500,000 persons in and around the palace 
grounds. On the water front, extending into the 
river, had been erected a handsome temple (see engrav- 
ing), a large pagoda in the center with four smaller 
ones at each corner, all heavily gilded and around them 
an enclosure elaborately paneled with pictures, Budd- 
histic mythological subjects, the platform and steps 
leading to the temple being covered with white cloth. 
In the center of the building had been sunk a marble 
pool, about twelve feet square, into which the river 
flowed and leading down to the water were marble 
stairs protected with silver rods, down which the Prince 
was conducted by the King and received by his uncle, 
Chowfa Bhanurengsi, Prince Ong IN'oi, who proceeded 
to perform the solemn ceremony of the sacred bath. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 181 

At 10 A. M. the King accompanied by the Crown 
Prince, who had been attending religious exercises at 
one of the wats, surrounded by a number of bishops in 
their yellow robes, proceeded to a handsome pavilion 
where a number of tapers had been placed on a circu- 
lar pedestal, when the King, after lighting several with 
the sacred fire that had been blessed by the Bramins, 
handed the torch to the Prince who lit the remainder. 
The priests then offered up a prayer after which the 
King, Prince and attendant nobles repaired to the 
Golden Temple which was soon filled, none but nobles 
and priests of the highest rank being allowed entrance. 
Around it on a wide platform were* stationed courtiers 
in old Siam uniforms, armed with flint lock muskets, 
in the water a number of men swam around the temple 
to keep the wp.ter spirits from entering, while up and 
down the river were stationed gun boats and steamers, 
with a flotilla of barges decorated with flags and bunt- 
ing. The astrologers had cast the horoscope of the 
young Prince and announced that the auspicious 
moment was 11:26 a. m., at which time a signal was 
fired, then the cannon on the vessels and a battery on 
shore thundered, thousands of muskets were dischars"ed. 
the bands played and the thousands in attendance knew 
that the solemn rites had commenced that was to make 
the Crown Prince heir apparent to the throne. Hand- 
some pavilions draped with white and red canvas 
richly carpeted and ornamented with silk curtains had 
been prepared for the diplomatic body and nobles, and 
while the water rite was being observed refreshments 
were handed around by palace servitors. 

The sacred water rites over in the Golden Temple, 
which occupied about an hour, the King and Prince 



182 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

returned, His Majesty bowing most graciously as he 
passed apparently well pleased and no nobler specimen 
of his nation was present among the many nobles of 
his realm. 

At 4 p. M. same day the diplomatic body and high 
oiRcials assembled at the palace Abheren Pamehepard, 
a salute of twenty-one guns was fired when the Crown 
Prince was seated on a handsome throne, dressed in 
royal robes of gold encrusted with jewels, surmounted 
with a silk canopy, the King standing by his side a few 
feet to his left, back of him the Queen mother and 
other female residents of the palace with several children 
all handsomely dressed. To the right of the King 
was arranged the Princes and high officials, in front 
the diplomatic body and to the left the lesser nobles. 
The large audience room was ablaze with light from 
crystal chandeliers filled with perfumed oil that threw 
a mellow glow over silken curtains, burnished arms, 
and rich tapestry, falling with most pleasing effect on 
the vast number present, their gorgeous uniforms 
lending additional brilliancy to the scene, while the 
myriad jewels on their belts, scarfs and breasts flashed 
and scintillated like glow worms in a parterre of flowers. 
As soon as the various bodies had arranged themselves 
addresses of congratulation were delivered by Prince 
Ong Noi on the part of the royal family, Hon. Ernst 
Satow, H. B. M. Minister, in behalf of the diplomatic 
body, and Chow Fa Mahah Mahlah, Minister of the 
Interior, for the lesser nobles, to which His Majesty 
replied at some length and with considerable feeling. 
Upon his conclusion the Crown Prince arose, stepped 
off of his throne and without a tremor spoke a memorized 
speech which pleased all present. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 183 

The King then announced that the audience was over 
and stepping forward shook hands with the British and 
American Ministers,the French Charged' Affairs and the 
Admiral of the French fleet, then in Tonquin waters. 
Bowing gracefully the King and Prince retired, and as 
the cannon thundered, the drums beat and bugles 
blared, the royal son was declared and recognized as tlie 
heir apparent and future King of Siam. Amid salvos of 
artillery the immense flood of humanity that over- 
flowed the palace grounds slowly ebbed away, and as 
the upper deep became studded with the orbs of night, 
less numerous than the jewels of Ind that had for hours 
dazzled us, a practical realization of the wealth of the 
orient, for on the brow of the Queen blazed a coronet 
of purest stones that far outrivalled the paler beauties 
of the Empress of Night that hung like a silver sickel 
in the western skies, I drove rapidly homeward, having 
had a repletion of Asiatic grandeur and oriental splen- 
dor, pomp and power. The ceremony in the Golden 
Temple, the water rite, I have alluded to elsewhere. 

His title is now Somdetch Phra Borom Orotsaterat 
Chow Fa Maha Chaeron Tit Aditoasa Chulalongkorn 
BodintaraTetwaraugoon Baromagnduarensoon Bottesa 
Devawong OoKretepong Warosutochat Tanzarark 
Weratreeboon Serepepat E^arwesoot, Crown Prince of 
Siam. Translation from the medal struck incommem- 
oratiou of the event. 



XXI. 

PEOMINEI^T TEMPLES AND PAGODAS. 

Of the fifty-eight leading wats or temples in the city 
of Bangkok wat P'hya, or temple of the Emerald Idol, 
situate in the palace grounds, excells all others not only 
in the city but kingdom, for the beauty of its exterior 
and interior. Its style of architecture is similar to most 
of the wats but its main beauty is the finish of its 
exterior ; the floor laid with German silver bricks, its 
altar surmounted by the sacred emerald idol, the walls 
elaborately covered with paintings representing Nir- 
vana and from the ceiling is suspended innumerable 
chandeliers that sparkle like brilliants as the sun streams 
through the windows. This grand temple is the admi- 
ration of every one that is so fortunate as to visit it. 

As regards architectural beauty wat Chang has not 
its equal in the East and as it rises up from the bank 
of the river it looks, with all of its spires and domes 
sharply defined, as if it was the creation of fancy rather 
than the work of man, perfect in its proportions, a 
vision of loveliness. It is a bell shaped pagoda with a 
lofty pracheda or sacred spire, about two hundred and 
fifty feet in height, with four smaller pagodas at each 
corner, all built solidly of brick and ornamented with a 
peculiar mosaic, grotesque and fantastic, made of porce- 
lain cups, plates, dishes, etc. of all sizes and colors, 
whole and broken, set into a cement to form figures of 
elephants, monkeys, birds, demons, griffins, flowers, 
fruit, vines, and arabesque, unique and original. Nearly 

184 



THE PEABL OF ASIA. 



185 



half way up are four large niches in which are 
images of Buddha riding on three elephants, facing the 
cardinal points of the compass, which gives this pagoda 
its name, Chang being the Siamese for elephant. 
Other niches, near the base, are filled with statues of 
gods and nondescripts. About twenty acres of ground 
is attached to this wat, which is handsomely laid off, 
containing residences for priests, temples for preaching, 
halls andlibrary,salas, flower and fruit gardens, ponds, 
grottos, statues of Buddha, giants, warriors, nonde- 
scripts, etc. The walks to and from the temple are 
laid with heavy stone slabs worn smooth by the bare 
feet of the numerous devotees that seek the cool retreat 
of the cloistered halls and the shade of the sacred trees 
that clasp the pagoda in a vast emerald frame. At 
the entrance of the main gate way are two immense 
wooden statues, Naks or demi-gods, holding huge 
maces in their hand, grotesque objects, and similar 
statues are to be found in the palace grounds and at 
nearly all the wats. 

On the opposite side of the river is the much visited 
temple wat Poh, which contains the idol known as the 
Sleeping Buddha, the largest in the world, it being one 
hundred and forty-eight feet in length, and at its slioul- 
ders sixty-five feet in height. It represents Buddha as 
lying with his head on one arm in the act of meditation 
and is most admirably proportioned, its large mild 
looking eyes ornament a pleasant looking face that has 
upon it a look of supreme content, as if it was a senti- 
ent being, with its gaze fixed on the to come and 
impervious to the passions that rule men, such as 
Kaphael gave his saints ; its arms, head and neck are 
perfectly moulded notwithstanding its colossal size, as 



186 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

is also the body, which is built of brick covered with a 
thick coat of laquer, heavily plated v^^ith gold leaf. 
The greatest curiosity is its feet, the toes all equal, and 
the soles, sixteen feet in length, are perfectly flat, cov- 
ered with the mystic symbols pertaining to a Buddha, 
inlaid with gold and mother of pearl, each of which is 
typical of something connected with the teaching of 
Gautama. The building in which it reclines was built 
expressly for it and is lighted by a large number of 
windows and doors which fly open at the request of 
sight seers, who always hand the keepers of the temple 
a tical or two as a recompense for their trouble. In 
the extensive grounds that belong to this favorite wat 
are a number of handsome buildings and five massive 
topes or pagodas, one by each King of the present 
dynasty. Along the broad paved walks are rows of 
trees that cast a cooling shade, and near the center of 
the gardens is a large pond in which a number of ali- 
gators are kept, and for a small sum are exhibited to 
visitors. The grounds are surrounded by high walls 
whitewashed, and the gates guarded by Kaks. It is 
one of the best wats to visit if a person wishes to see 
all kinds of Siamese architecture, and the attendants 
are polite and accommodating. The wats and grounds 
throughout Siam are always open to strangers as well 
as to the natives. 

The Chinese have several wats in the city, the largest 
of which is wat Conlayer Nemit, which occupies a 
square of ground and is noted for the number of its 
grotesque idols and statues scattered through its 
grounds. It is one of the largest temples in the city, 
its immense roof is at least one hundred feet in height 
and at one end of the mammoth chamber or hall is a 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 187 

gigantic brass Buddha sitting cross-legged, fifty feet in 
height and forty feet across its knees, one of the hand- 
somest images in Bangkok, otiier idols are scattered 
through the building of various sizes. Two smaller 
wats are located in this compound, one containing a 
gilded Buddha sitting on a rock, supported by a copper 
elephant on one side and on the other by a large lead 
monkey in attitudes of adoration. In the other wat is 
located a large statue of Buddha standing, with about 
one hundred smaller statues, in different positions, 
grouped around it, made of various metals, many of 
them gilded, and a few of wood. It is said that some 
of the smaller ones were made of silver and gold, but 
the priests seemed ignorant of the matter and if there 
were any such refused to point them out. As is usual 
in most wats the walls were covered with highly 
colored paintings of Siamese traditions somewhat dis- 
colored with smoke and dirt, in fact, as a general thing, 
the wats are all filthy, smell of coal oil, and as the 
priests seldom preach in them they are not swept out 
or ventilated. After visiting one or two wats you get 
an idea of the whole, they are all built in the same 
style of architecture and have similar altars and sur- 
roundings, some more elaborate and costly than the 
others, the roof usually made of various colored tiles 
and at the ridge poles extend wooden ornaments very 
much in the shape of a bullock's horn which gives an 
artistic finish to the building. The doors are large and 
artistically carved and gilded, some very elaborate, the 
window shutters, as they use no glass, are massive and 
handsomely carved, many of them works of art, 
denoting great skill on the part of the designer and 
workmen. 



188 THE PEA_RL OF ASIA. 

The wat Pra Prat'om Chedee, is the oldest as well 
as the most mao^nilicent and largest of the Buddhist 
temples. It is situated in the center of a vast wilder- 
ness of jungle grass on a canal leading into Tacheen 
river, about eight hours distant by boat from Bang- 
kok and is erected on a spot where it is supposed that 
Buddha passed the night during a storm while on his 
peregrmations through Siam, its name meaning the 
pagoda of a god that slept, its height being 414 feet ; 
this mighty edifice, from the ground up, being the 
work of man, as it is built on a level plain. Its 
origin is shrouded in mystery but tradition has it that 
it was originally built by Phya Kong, a powerful 
Eajah, who slew his father in battle. Having suffered 
the bitterest remorse a Buddhist oracle extended to 
him the idea that if he wished to have the sin of parri- 
cide removed that he erect on the spot where his father 
was slain and where Buddha slept a pagoda reaching 
above the highest flight of doves and enshrine in it a 
sacred relic of Buddha. In obedience to the oracle he 
did so, expending untold sums on the work. It is 
reported that a miracle was effected through the effi- 
cacy of a prayer offered here by the Chief Priest of 
Siam, who invoked the angel in charge of the temple 
that if any of the sacred relics of the Buddha had been 
enshrined there, that he would divide them so that he 
could deposit them in the royal wat at Bangkok, as the 
ancient pagoda was too far off in the wilderness for 
the people to visit for worship. A month or so after this, 
while the priests were worshipping in wat Ma-ha-t'at, 
where there is a very precious image of Buddha,of great 
antiquity, they beheld a red smoke ascending from this 
idol, having the fragrance of incense, while it glowed 




Brass Idol in Temple, Bangkok. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 189 

as if red hot. Somewhat frightened they examined it, 
there was no heat, but the smoke hung about it like 
incense and filled the temple with its fragrance, seem- 
ingly a profound mystery. The Chief Priest was noti- 
fied of the phenomena and he repaired to the temple 
with a number of his followers and while pursuing his 
investigations he discovered in the golden urn used for 
preserving sacred relics two more pieces than there 
had been before. He inquired of the resident priests 
and the keepers of the door if they knew how they 
came in the urn, no one knew, and all were convinced 
that they could not have been placed there by mortal 
hand, that the Chief Priests' prayer had been ans- 
wered, that the angel that watched over Pra Prat'om 
Chedee had responded to the appeal and placed them 
in the urn. The relics were each about the size of a 
mustard seed, white like the flower of tlie P'eekoon 
and had each two white dots in a straight line on them. 
They are now deposited in a pagoda of precious stone 
in the Pra rata-na Satradarom. Pra Prat'om was a 
mass of ruins up till 1855, when King Monkut and 
some of his chief nobles resolved to restore it and the 
result of their labor is that it is now the wonder and 
admiration of that section. Owing to its isolation but 
few Europeans have visited this magnificent specimen 
of Siamese architecture. 

After a weary pull through the canals you step out 
of your boat and looking upward are struck with won- 
der at the magnitude of the structure and the vast 
amount of treasure and labor that had been expended 
in rearing this supreme monument to Buddha, ha vino* 
but seen its upper tower at a distance sharply outlined 
against the bluest of skies. It is surrounded on all four 



190 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

sides by a row of massive buildings, each fronting 750 
feet by fifteen in width and thirty in height, covered 
with bright red tileSj the walls stuccoed yellow. On 
the corners, where the buildings connect, are towers 
finely proportioned and the gateways are surmounted 
with arched roofs. Inside these buildings form a 
verandah encircling the whole enclosure. Passing 
through one of the gateways you ascend three steps to 
a neatly paved plateau twenty feet or more in width, 
then up a flight of marble steps through a handsome 
porch to the second plateau, also about twenty feet 
wide, richly finished and filled with artificial lakes, 
mountains, caverns, miniature pagodas and temples, 
statues, etc., a portico surrounding a circular row of 
buildings. From thence you ascend to the third plateau 
paved with marble and shaded by trees and rare shrubs 
and scattered all around it granite circular tables, 
benches, flower pots, couches, &c. The circle of this 
floor cannot be less than two thousand feet by thirty in 
width. The fourth plateau is reached by a flight of 
four steps through another row of buildings, the door 
opening into a narrow hall also circling the pagoda 
which is lighted by scores of oval windows on the out- 
side and on the inside a series of handsome arches open 
on the next plateau. The floor is laid with artificial 
marble and from the ceiling, the entire circuit, chanda- 
liers of Siamese workmanship are suspended about ten 
feet apart. This hall is divided into four parts, temples, 
enshrined in them statues of Buddha from life size up to 
those of gigantic stature, most of them handsomely 
gilded. On the outer wall, in the spaces between the 
windows, are texts written in Pali, occupying about 
four foot space, the characters neatly executed in putty 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 191 

and embossed on the wall by some process that makes 
them hard as stone. This hall is about one thousand 
feet in the circuit and on the same level' is an open 
court jSfteen feet wide surrounding another structure 
with embrasures in which are fitted large panes of 
different colored glass for the purpose of holding lamps, 
tastefully arched, and placed about three feet apart, 
numbering two hundred and thirty. In the rear of 
this wall of lamps is another open space handsomely 
paved, about ten feet higher up, eight feet wide, 
making the fifth plateau, nine hundred feet round, 
forming the base of the pagoda at a distance of thirty 
feet from the ground, three hundred feet in circumfer- 
ence, and from thence upward to the spire three hundred 
and eighty-four feet. Above this plateau there are no 
more places for walking and it then takes the usual 
form of the largest pagodas, belted with seven zones, 
which gradually diminish as they ascend about sixty 
feet where the smooth face of the pagoda, its dome, 
commences, running up one hundred feet, then the 
pagoda proper takes the form of a pracheda and is 
crowned with a frame Avork of royal metals having pro- 
jections and a lance-like spire. On the projections are 
suspended golden bells that ring out melodiously as 
they are swayed by the breeze, sounding like the 
whispering of angels in the ether as their soft tintin- 
abulation fills the air and falls from above like a beiii- 
son, ever sounding the praises of the liberal spirits that 
have reared this vast poem of enduring brick and stone 
in the wilds where Buddha slept and a King died, a 
monument of merit, so that the sin of parricide should 
pass away from a son stricken down by remorse. The 
golden bells, of immense value, are hung so high heaven- 



192 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

ward that no one has ever attempted to loot them. Sur- 
rounding this temple are a large number of brick and 
bamboo houses, erected by the King and others, now- 
occupied by the priests, making quite a city. This 
whole structure, solidly built of brick and stone, from 
the ground up, was raised by manual labor and its cost, 
even in this land of forced labor, must have been 
enormous. 

In its restoration Choo Phya Thepakin, the author 
of the " Kitchanukit," alone, spent a fabulous sum to 
carry out the Siamese idea of tumboon — merit making. 
A volume of many pages could be written on the 
temples of Siam, that would be read with interest if 
some " Old Mortality " would arise and devote his time 
to it. They are everywhere and like the monasteries 
of the dark ages occupy the finest places in the land, 
and I have been assured that at least one-third of the 
available sites for villages and farms are now occupied 
by the priests as wat grounds. 

Far in the interior, two days journey from Bangkok, 
is an old wat fast going to ruin, in its wide court yard 
is one of the most singular productions of this artistic 
people, a procession headed by an elephant, made up 
of priests and people, as large as life, the elephant 
being over twelve feet high, all carved out of a solid 
rock. No one can tell who carved the stone nor why 
it was done, it stands there to-day amid flowering vines 
and sheltering Bo-tree as it did when fresh from the 
chisel of the designer, a singular work of art. There is 
nothing like it elsewhere in the kingdom and but few 
are aware of its existence, as it has but lately been 
rescued from oblivion by the ubiquitous photographer 
who has portrayed it on his plates for the admiration 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 193 

of man. The wat, m whose court this stone procession 
is found, is a ruin of vast proportions but the figures 
remain so perfect that the folds of their dress can be 
seen and the trappings of the elephant seem as if 
carved but yesterday. It must have required years to 
have thus hewn these numerous figures out of the rock, 
as they all have been carved from a single stone. 



XXII. 

BUDDHISM m SIAM. 

A number of learned oriental scholars have spent 
years in reading the vast mass of fact and fiction that 
has come down to us from the writers of the East con- 
cerning the Lord Buddha, whose followers now num- 
ber at least one-third of the human race, but none have 
given it a closer attention than the late Henry Alabas- 
ter, who spent many years in Bangkok as interpreter 
to^ the British Legation and councillor of the King, a 
ripe Pali scholar, and from his work, " The Wheel of 
the Law,^' collated from Siamese manuscripts, the 
"Kitchanukit," and the Patamma Samphathiyan or 
First Festival of Omniscience, I have derived much 
information and annex his introduction to the Life of 
Buddha ; as translated from the Siamese : 

" The Great, the Holy Lord, the being who was about 
to become a Buddha, passed the first twenty-nine years 
of his life as a layman by the name of Prince Sidharta. 
He then became a religious mendicant, and for six 3^ears 
subjected himself to self-denials of a nature that other 
men could not endure. Thereafter he became the Lord 
Buddha and gave to men and angels the draught of 
immortality, which is the savour of the True Law, 
Forty-five years after this the Lord, the Teacher, 
entered the Holy Nirvana, passing thereto as he lay 
between two lofty trees in the State Gardens of the 
Malla Princes, near the Royal City of Kusinagara." 

Mr. Alabaster was fortunate in his labors to have 

194 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 195 

the assistance of His Majesty King Monkut and Chow 
Phya Thipaken, both learned in Pali lore, in the 
preparation of the "Wheel of the Law,'^ thus giving to 
the general reader a knowledge of the teachings of 
Buddha and his life which must prove invaluable to 
the searcher after knowledge in that direction, from 
which I have condensed a brief account of the Buddha 
of many nations, and his peculiar doctrines. 

It would seem from his researches that the Siamese 
have derived their religion, most of their ceremonies 
and the better part of their language from the ancient 
Aryans, "the respectable race" of Central India. 
Buddhism, in its primitive form, consisted of four great 
truths conveying the idea that as all states of existence 
which we can conceive of are states of vanity, sorrow 
and change, the object of the wisely pious must be to 
escape from them, and that it is only possible to escape 
from them by eradicating all delight in worldly pleas- 
ure and raising the mind to that intellectual state in 
which there is no longer any cleaving to existence, but 
a tranquil readiness to pass into the perfect rest of 
Nirvana. In the course of time monasticism crept in, 
the result of the unnatural lives led by the monks, 
which combined the doctrines of the founder of the 
faith with their unauthorized dogmas and absurdities, 
the result of warped, fantastic and prurient minds. 
The Buddhist speaks of heaven rather than hell, thinks 
it uncharitable to damn everlastingly those who may 
differ with him, but with the degeneracy of his race he 
has accepted man}?" false ideas and fables and thus 
invented a system of meditation which instead of 
expanding the mind tends to contract it almost to 
idiocy. JSTotwithstanding the Brahmins drove the 



196 THE PEARL OF ASIA.. 

Buddhists from India their rites are observed in all 
State ceremonials and they live harmoniously in Slam 
where the Brahmin soothsayers and astrologers are 
regarded as prominent personages and consulted upon 
every important occasion, worship in their own tem- 
ples, full of grotesque and obscene gods, Indra, Yishnu, 
Brahma and other Hindu divinities. The Siamese 
have a mixed mythology, mainly derived from the 
Hindu; their gods are regarded but as mortals in a 
superior state of transmigration. Among other things 
is found the Trinitarian idea represented by Buddha, 
the Law and the Church, also superstitions regarding 
ISTaga, (the snake,) powerful as a god ; angels of the gate 
and trees, relic worship in the building of topes or para- 
chedis, the worship of the Pipul or sacred Bo-tree, deline- 
ated in their ancient sculpture, seemingly one of the 
earliest species of adoration, such as the intelligent 
Buddhist of to-day tenders to the images of the great 
teacher : the worship of an idea through a symbol. To 
the uneducated mind there seems nothing nobler than 
the monarch of the forest. In its branches he finds shul- 
ter from an enemy or shade from the heat of the sun, 
its foliage inspires him with the idea of beauty, while its 
size and majestic proportions strike him with awe and 
he venerates it as a symbol of Deity. Picking up a 
blossom that had fallen from its sheltering bough and 
placing it on a stone, to preserve its beauty, apparently 
originated a worship, an altar and a sacrifice. This 
probably was the origin of tree worship and upon every 
festal occasion the Bo-tree is decorated with the yellow 
mantle of Buddha, wreaths of flowers and lacon images. 
It has been held by some writers that the tenets of 
Buddhism are the same as the Sankhya and other schools 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 197 

of philosophy in India, which is incorrect. "While both 
teach that the great object of man is to destroy the mis- 
ery inseparable from ordinary existence, "neither I am, 
nor is ought mine,"' and those systems are grounded on 
transmigration, the belief that prevailed in India three 
thousand years ago ; the former recognized the exist- 
ence of a personal God, actively interested in the 
world and making his law known by revelation, and 
that man was imbued with a soul, which is incompatible 
with Buddha's teachings. The oldest Buddhist classics 
deal but little in metaphysical niceties, but many of 
them have since the days of Buddha been corrupted. 
Those that have the most bearing and are regarded as 
the true text of the teacher are the stone edicts of 
King Asaka, in the third century before Christ. De- 
siring to extend the Buddhist religion he had edicts 
cut in stone and disseminated throughout his realms, 
which have been deciphered by Princep and other 
oriental scholars, and they are very simple. He en- 
joins his subjects "Not to slay animals; to plant trees 
and dig wells by the roadside for the comfort of man 
and beast; the appointment of teachers to superintend 
morals, encourage the charitable and those addicted to 
virtue ; " orders his subjects to "hold assemblies for 
the enforcement of moral obhgations — duty to parents, 
friends, children, relatives, Brahmins and Sramanas 
(Buddhist monks)." "Liberality is good, abstinence 
from prodigality and slander is good, non-injury 
of living creatures is good." "The beloved of the 
gods (himself) does not esteem glory and fame as of 
great value ; for it may be acquired by crafty and un- 
worthy persons." " To me there is not satisfaction in 
the pursuit of wordly affairs; the most worthy pursuit 



198 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

is the prosperity of the whole world. My endeavor is to 
be blameless to all creatures, to make them happy here 
below, and to enable them to attain Swarga (heaven)." 

This last edict has been much commented on as he 
did not mention ]N^irvana only Swarga. the place to be 
sought, heaven. 

The chief point and belief of the modern Buddhist 
is that of transHiigration, not only into other human 
states, but into all forms, active and passive, in fact 
that all gods and animals, men and brutes, have no in- 
trinsic difference between them. They all change 
places according to their merit and demerit. They ex- 
ist because of the disturbance caused by their demerits. 
How they began to exist is not even asked ; it is a 
question pertaining to the InjBnite, of which no ex- 
planation is attempted. Even in dealing with the 
illustrious being who afterwards became Buddha no 
attempt is made to picture a beginning of his existence, 
and we are only told of the beginning of his aspira- 
tions to become a Buddha and the countless existences 
that he subsequently passed through ere he achieved 
his object. The teaching on this point is the equality 
of all beings, that the relative positions of all beings are 
perfectly just, being self caused by the good and evil 
conduct in previous existences ; that if a good man is 
poor and wretched, he is so because he has lived evilly 
in previous generations ; if a bad man is prosperous, he 
is so because he had lived well in previous generations. 
Having declared the fact of transmigration and the 
principle which causes its various states, Buddhism 
teaches that there is no real or permanent satisfaction 
in any state of transmigration ; that neither the pain- 
less luxuries of the lower heavens, nor the tranquility 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 199 

of the highest angels can be considered as happiness, 
for they will have an end followed by a recurrence of 
varied and frequently sorrowful existences, thus Budd- 
hists, rich or poor, acknowledge no providence and see 
more reason to lament existence than to be grateful 
for a future life. Nirvana, the extinction of all exist- 
ence, they claim, must be the object of the truly wise 
man, but what that annihilation is has not been clearly 
defined and has been the subject of endless contention. 
The choicest epithets have been lavished on it by the 
Siamese, such as "Mrvana is a place of comfort, where 
there is no care ; lovely is the glorious realm of JSTir- 
vana;" also, " Jewelled realm of happiness, the immor- 
tal ISTirvana." 

One of the pertinent questions propounded by the 
seeker after knowledge is " how to attain Nirvana ? " and 
the closest reasoners have reached the conclusion that 
the only solution is that as our every thought and word 
and act is voluntary, or the result of desire, and must be 
followed by its effect, we must annihilate our existence 
by removing all cause for future action, eradicate all 
desire, and then Nirvana may be attained. It is claimed 
that ignorance is the first cause of which worldly desire 
is but the effect, but Buddha had nothing to do with 
anything that pertained to the Infinite, hence it is 
argued had it not been for ignorance of the future, all 
beings having perceived that Nirvana was the only 
object desirable would have destroyed all that prevented 
its attainment, in fact would have destroyed existence. 

The four emnient truths of Buddhism are termed 
the " Four Paths and the Four Fruits," or the four 
highest degrees of saintship, viz : First, Srota apatti — 
''the state of entering into the stream of wisdom'' 



200 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

The saint who has attained this cannot have more than 
seven births among men and angels before he enters 
Nirvana. 

Second, Sakridagamin — "he who must come back 
once." After attaining this degree there will be only 
one birth among men or angels before reaching 
Nirvana. 

Third, Anagamin — "he will not come back." There 
will be another birth, but not in the worlds of 
sensuality. From the heavens of the Brahmins Nirvana 
will be attained. 

Fourth, Arhat "the venerable." This is the perfect 
saint who will pass to Nirvana without further birth. 

These four "truths" only assert that purity is essential 
to the entering into the paths of the saints and that 
men by countless births can become a Buddha, a teacher 
of the paths, but the majority of those who enter the 
paths are only led into them by the personal influence of 
a Buddha, then by the inherent power of their accumu- 
lated merit they will be born to meet a Buddha and by 
his teachings be led into the paths of the saints; the 
object of men must therefore be the accumulation of 
merit and repression of demerit, thus Buddha incul- 
cates a virtuous and self-sacrificing life, the practice of 
charity and the exercise of meditation, and all writers 
award the highest praise to the moral teaching of this 
great religion, of which the following are the five 
principal commandments, viz.: 

First: Not to destroy life. 

Second: Not to obtain another's property by unjust 
means. 

Third: Not to indulge the passions so as to invade 
the legal or natural rights of other men. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA, 201 

Fourth: Not to tell lies. 

Fifth: Not to partake of anything intoxicating. 

Other commandments relate to the repression of 
personal vanity, greed, fondness for luxury, etc., and 
among evil tendencies, especially singled out for re- 
probation, is covetousness, anger, folly, sensuality, 
arrogance, want of veneration, scepticism and ingrati- 
tude. These bad quahties are personified as leaders of 
the army of Mara, the evil one, who, with a curious 
parallelism to our legend of Satan, is made out to be an 
archangel of a heaven even higher than that of the 
beneficent Indra. Charity seems to be the main pillar 
in the Buddhistic edifice, the whole character of Buddha 
is full of charity, insomuch that although his perfection 
was such that at almost an infinite period before he 
became Buddha he might, during the teaching of an 
earlier Buddha, have escaped from the current of 
existence, which he regarded as misery, he remained 
in that current and passed through countless painful 
transmigrations in order that he might ultimately 
benefit not himself but all other beings by becoming a 
Buddha and helping all those whose ripe merits could 
only be perfected by the teachings of a Buddha. The 
number of former Buddhas is countless, but they are 
all supposed to have lived and taught in the same 
manner. There is a history of the last twenty-four 
Buddhas preceeding Gotama Buddha, supposed to have 
been related by him. Twenty-one of the number 
appeared in eleven previous conditions of the world, 
which, they claim, is periodically destroyed and 
recreated by the influence of merit and demerit. In 
some of these eleven creations only one Buddha 
appeared; in others two, three or four. The present 



202 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

creation is highly fortunate, as it will number five. Of 
these three: Kakusandha, Konagamma and Kasyappa, 
proceeded Buddha, and Maitra Buddha will follow him 
after his doctrine will have been forgotten. 

Meditation is regarded as the highest means of self 
improvement and is represented in three classes : Kam- 
mathan, Bhavanah and Dhyana. The first, by medi- 
tation on the nature of elementary substances, leading 
to the thorough appreciation of the unsatisfactoriness ; 
the second, to the characteristics of charity, pity, joy, 
sorrow and equanimity, leading the mind to a pure 
state of intellectuality ; the third, that each step, ac- 
companied by a state of ecstacy or trance, is supposed, 
during its continuance to remove man from the sub- 
jugation of the ordinary laws of nature, so much so 
that he would become a master of magical arts, such 
as flying, becoming invisible, changing his form, etc. 
King Monkut laughed at such fables and remarked 
that "there are no such saints nowadays," that there 
were none that could achieve the state of Dhyana. 
With meditation was devised by its founders the 
system that facilitated its practice, monastic asceticism, 
but the monastic vow is not bindmg for life. 

Prayer is not necessarily a Buddhist practice, as they 
have no divine being to pray to. What has been 
termed prayer by Bishop Pallegoi, and others are 
merely sentences from the Pali for repetition, a list of 
the thirty-two elements into which their philosophers 
resolve the human body, the repetition of which is 
supposed to assist meditation on the vanity and misery 
of existence; a list of the epithets of Buddha designed 
to help meditation on the excellence of his teachings, 
and the creed or profession of belief in Buddha, his 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 203 

law and his church. It is customary for the monks to 
recite formulas of this kind, but it cannot properly be 
called prayer. Invocations to a Buddha are frequently 
mentioned, for instance Maia's desire, the mother of 
Buddha, expressed to the former Buddha, Wipassi : * 
"May I be, in some after generation, the mother of 
a Buddha like thyself;" or the incident of Buddha 
throwing into the air his locks that he had just cut off, 
crying, "If, indeed, I am about to attain the Buddha- 
hood, let these locks remain suspended in the air," and 
they remained suspended by his excessive merit. It 
seems that a species of prayer has sprung up from the 
superstitions that have been engrafted on Buddhism, 
as is recorded the appeal of the girl Suchada, to the 
angels of the tree, to grant her "a happy marriage and 
a male child." The Siamese are angel worshippers, 
many of them ignorant of the tenets of their own 
religion, pray not only to angels but to Buddha and 
worship him with offerings, as they do the spirits of 
the air that they suppose is always hovering about 
them, but the monks only recite the montras, that is 
verses and other formulas, which are mainly written in 
the Pali, and many of them do not understand their 
meaning. 

The sermons of Buddha have been carefully pre- 
served and handed down, denoting a powerful intellect. 
He was undoubtedly one of the greatest and most 
original thinkers that the world has cognizance of, and 
his scheme of salvation, if it can be so called, was 
promulgated at a time when superstition, sophistry and 
priestcraft held supreme sway. He laid down his scep- 

*Tn Tumour's "Pali Annals," Wipassi is mentioned as the nineteenth 
of the twenty-one Buddhas, Dipongkara having been the earliest. Since 
Wipassi's time the world has been twice destroyed and re-created. 



204 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

ter and v/ent among the people clad as a mendicant 
and without the charm, rites or priestly fancies then in 
vogue ; in fact without any of the gods that men loved 
■ and trusted ; enunciated a creed based solely on the 
cardinal principles of love and charity. It is asserted by 
the leading theologists of Siam that the Lord Buddha 
never expressed the idea that his religion would be 
universal, "that he was but as a transient gleam of light, 
indicating the path of truth. His religion was but as a 
stone thrown into a pool covered with floating weeds ; 
it cleared an opening through which the pure water 
was seen, but the effect would die away and the weeds 
close up as before. The Lord Buddha saw the bright, 
the exact, the abstruse, the difficult course, and but for 
the persuasion of angels would not have attempted to 
teach that which he considered too difficult for men to 
follow." As a fact that he did not care for a universal 
religion he taught that as the existence of this world 
was unsatisfactory and miserable the cessation of the 
renewal of the species was not a matter to be deplored, 
annihilation meant happiness. Kearly the entire East 
accepted his teachings with a blind idolatory, but most 
of his creed was afterward overshadowed by the monas- 
ticism of the monks, as has much of Christianity been 
rendered obscure by the fabrications of priestly crafts- 
men during the dark ages. The great question ever 
uppermost in men's minds was as pertinent then as now : 
"If a man die shall he live again? " the higher life ; and 
Buddha attempted to answer it in his first recorded 
sermon, which is translated from the Pali text in the 
so-called Sutra of the Foundation of the Kingdom of 
Righteousness, among the very oldest of the Buddhist 
records, as follows : 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 205 

" There are two extremes which the man who has 
devoted himself to the higher life ought not to 
follow — the habitual practice, on the one hand, of 
those things whose attractions depend upon the passions 
and especially of sensuality (a low and gamma-pagan, 
way of seeking gratification, unworthy, unprofitable 
and fit only for the worldly minded) ; and the habitual 
practice, on the other hand, of asceticism (or self mor- 
tification), which is not only painful, but as unworthy 
and unprofitable as the other. But the Tathagata (the 
Buddha) has discovered a middle path, which avoids 
these two extremities, a path which opens the eyes and 
bestows understanding, which leads to peace of mind, 
to the higher wisdom, to full enlightenment — in a word 
to Nirvana. And this path is the noble eight fold 
path of 

Right views, A harmless livelihood. 

High aims. Perseverance in well-doing. 

Kindly speech. Intellectual activity, and 

Upright conduct. Earnest thought. 

" Birth," said the Teacher, '' is attended with pain, 
and so are decay and disease and death. Union with 
the unpleasant is painful and separation from the 
pleasant; and any craving that is unsatisfied is a 
condition of sorrow. 'Now, all this amounts, in short, 
to this, that wherever there are the conditions of indi- 
viduality, there are the conditions of sorrow. This is 
the First Truth, the truth about sorrow. 

"The cause of sorrow is the thirst or craving which 
causes the renewal of individual existence, is accom- 
panied by evil, and is ever seeking satisfaction, now 
here, now there — that is to say, the craving either for 
sensual gratification^ or for continued existence, or for 



206 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

the cessation of existence. This is the Noble Truth 
concerning the origin of sorrow. 

" Deliverance from sorrow is the complete destruc- 
tion, the laying aside, the getting rid of, the being free 
from, the harboring no longer of, this passionate crav- 
ing. This is the Noble Truth concerning the destruc- 
tion of sorrow. 

"The path which leads to the destruction of sorrow 
is this Noble Eightfold Path alone — that is to say, right 
views, high aims, kindly speech, upright conduct, a 
harmless livelihood, perseverance in well doing, intel- 
lectual activity, and earnest thought. This is the No- 
ble Truth of the Path which leads to the destruction of 
sorrow.^' 

To understand this sermon a person should be well 
versed iu the mythology of the East and it loses much 
of its force in the translation. It is an attempt to sug- 
gest to the Buddhist the course he must pursue, to 
point out to him the obstacles that he must meet in his 
progress along the Noble Path. The Eight Divisons 
of the Path show the qualities of the mind that he 
should seduously cultivate so that he can successfully 
contend against the Ten Fetters : Delusion of Self, In- 
decision, Dependence on the Efficacy of Eites and Cere- 
monies, Bodily Passions, 111 Will towards Individuals, 
the Highest Fruit, the Supression of the desire for a fu- 
ture life with a material body, the Desire for a future 
life in an immaterial world, Pride, Self Righteousness, 
the last but one to be broken, the most difficult to con- 
quer and to which superior minds are peculiarly liable, 
Pharisees ; and lastly is placed Ignorance. When all 
else has been conquered this will remain, the thorn in 
the flesh of the wise and good, the last enemy and bit- 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 207 

terest foe of man. As the Eight Divisions of the No- 
ble Path show him his duty so the Ten Fetters point 
out to ^him what he should most earnestly contend 
against, thus from the two combined the reader can get 
an idea of the state of mind called in Buddhist writings 
Arahatship, or the Fruit of the Noble Eightfold Path, 
the state of a man made perfect, the Noble Path tra- 
versed, all the Fetters broken, the mind purified and 
Nirvana attained. 

The doctrines of Buddha are now receiving more at- 
tention from the western nations than ever before, 
they are being shorn of much of the superstitions that 
have hitherto surrounded them and as a late English 
writer, T. W. Khys Davids, truthfully says : 

" The fact is, that in spite of the general belief to the 
contrary, Christianity is at heart more pessimist even 
than Buddhism. To the majority of average Chris- 
tians this world is a place of probation, a vale of tears, 
though its tears will be wiped away and its sorrows 
changed into unutterable joy in a better world beyond. 
To the Buddhist such hopes seem to be without foun- 
dation, to indulge in them is only possible to the foolish 
and ignorant ; Avhile thus to despair of the present life, 
thus to postpone the highest fruit of salvation to a world 
beyond the grave is base, unworthy and unwise. Here 
and now according to the Buddhist we are to seek sal- 
vation, and to seek it in right views and high aims, 
kindly and upright behaviour, a harmless livelihood, 
perseverance in well doing, intellectual activity and ear- 
nest thought." 

Among the many books that the Buddhist has 
hitherto relied on as orthodox is the " Traiphome," the 
standard work on Siamese cosmogomy, which is a 



208 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

collection of chapters from the ancient Yedas, various 
extracts from the Sutras, parables, proverbs and 
fables, which were collected together by the monks, at 
an early day, and furnished one of the Kings, a convert 
of Buddha, as the actual work of the great Teacher. 
The people, being uneducated, accepted the 
'''Traiphome^' as it came from their hands as living 
truths, with all of its fabulous stories. Among others 
I select the following in regard to transmigration: 

"■ In the sacred books we read of a certain rich 
merchant who was not a Buddhist, whose death-bed 
thoughts were only about money. The result of his 
merit and demerit caused him to be born a puppy in 
the very house that had belonged to him when a man 
and of which his son was master. One day, as Buddha 
passed the house collecting alms, the puppy ran to the 
gate and barked and the Lord called to it ' Tothai, 
Tothai,' and it ran and laid down at his feet. Then 
was the son very angry at the insult he considered to 
have been cast against his father by giving his name to 
a doe: and he remonstrated with Buddha. Buddha 
asked him ' Have you yet found the money your 
fatljer buried during his life?' He answered 'only 
a part of it.' ' Then if you would know whether or 
not this puppy is Tothai, the merchant, treat him with 
great respect for several days and he will show you.' 
And the young man did so and the dog indicated the 
place where the treasure was hid and from thence- 
forward the son of Tothai followed the teachings of the 
Lord Buddha." 

Buddhists believe that every act, word or thought 
has its consequence, which will appear sooner or later 
in the present or future state, that merit and demerit 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 209 

is the law of nature or guiding power with which they 
supply the place of God, which the Siamese called Kam, 
sometimes translated fate or consequence. Evil acts 
will produce evil consequences — that is a man will have 
misfortune in this world or an evil birth in hell or as 
an animal in some future existence. Good acts will 
result in general good. There is no God who judges 
of these acts and rewards recompense or punishment ; 
but the reward or punishment is simply the inevitable 
effect of Kam, which works out its own results. The 
meritorious and demeritorious Kam, which living 
beings have caused to exist by their own acts, words, 
or thoughts, are whether their fruits be joy or sorrow 
to be classed under three heads. 

The first, is the Kam of which creatures will have 
the fruits at once in their present state of existence. 
The second is the Kam with which creatures will have 
the fruits in the next state of existence. The third, 
is the Kam of which creatures will have the fruit in 
future states of existence from the third onward. 

Merit or demerit will cause a tendency of the soul in 
one direction sometimes as many as seven births and 
deaths, which will be followed by a relapse in the oppo- 
site direction for six or less times ; such is the way of 
the soul. The merit of a single act of charity or the 
demerit of the slaughter of a single ant will be followed 
by one of these three Kams. These Kams are divided 
up into a number of lesser Kams covering almost every 
transaction of life. 

The question being asked of Chao Phya Thepakin 
author of the " Kitchanukit," a book explaining many 
things, " If a man believes in a future existence, 
governed by Kam, how shall he make merit to save 



210 THE PEAJSSL OF ASIA. 

himself from future miser}'-?" The answer : "By 
following the teachings of Buddha, the holy and omnis- 
cient one ; the teaching which praises kindness and 
compassion, and pleasure in the general happiness of 
all beings, and freedom from love or dislike to individ- 
uals, and which forbids hatred and jealousy, and envy 
and revenge ; the religion that Than, or almsgiving ; 
Sin, or rules of moralit}^, and Bhawana, or simple medi- 
tation ; which, with fidelity and other virtues, are the 
merits of an ordinary class ; and the firm observance of 
the rules of the priesthood, which is merit of the 
highest class." 

Comparing the commandments of Buddha with the 
laws of other religions he observes that "theft, adultery, 
lying and the destruction of human life (with excep- 
tions) are regarded as sins by all people ; that intoxi- 
cation is only forbidden by Buddhists, Brahmins and 
Mahometans, and that the destruction of life, other than 
human, is regarded as sin by none but Buddhists and 
Brahmins, believers in the Buddha Avatar." In regard 
to the vice of intoxication he says : "It is a cause of 
the heart becoming excited and overcome. By nature 
there is already an intoxication in man caused by de- 
sire, anger, and folly ; he is already inclined to excess 
and not thoughtful of the impermanence, misery and 
vanity of all things. If we stimulate this natural in- 
toxication by drinking it will become more daring ; 
and if the natural inclination is to anger, anger will 
become excessive and acts of violence and murder will 
result. Similarly with other inclinations. The drunken 
man neither thinks of future retribution nor present 
punishment. Again, spirituous liquors cause disease, 
and short life ; and the use of them, when it becomes a 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 211 

habit, cannot be dispensed with without discomfort, so 
that men spend all their money unprofitably in pur- 
chasing them and when their money is gone become 
thieves and dacoits. The evil is both future and im- 
mediate. 

"As for the argument that it is customary to make 
offerings of spirituous liquors to the Dewa angels and 
that that practice tells in favor of spirit drinking, I can 
only say that we have no proof that the angels con- 
sume these offerings ; and the only foundation for such 
a supposition is the statement of some ancient sages 
that the Asura angels of Indra's heavens got drunk, 
which, after all, only amounts to the assertion that the 
Dewa (or sensual) angels resemble men in their taste for 
liquor. In the present age many Americans have de- 
clared spirit-drinking to be an evil, a cause of much 
immediate mischief and of no future good. The Jews 
used not to consider spirit-drinking a sin, but Mahomet 
declared that Allah had ordered him to forbid its use 
on the ground that if they went to heaven they would 
smell so offensively that the angels could not endure 
their vicinity." 

Speaking of the third commandment, lust, he says : 
"The religion of Buddha highly commends a life of 
chastity. Buddha stated that when a man could not 
remain as a celibate, if he took but one wife it was yet 
a kind of chastity, a commendable life ; Buddha also 
censured polj^gamy, as involving lust and ignorance, 
but he did not absolutely forbid it, because he could 
not say there was any actual wrong in a man having a 
number of wives properly acquired." After remarking 
that women as well as men can enjoy the higliest 
pleasures of heaven and that there may be a change of 



212 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

sex with a change of state, he gives his views of the 
common sensual idea of heaven : 

"The Hindoos, who live in countries adjoining the 
Mahometan countries, believe that in heaven every 
male has tens and hundreds of thousands of female 
attendants, according to what their teachers of old 
tauofht them concerning the riches of heaven and their 
ideas are akin to that of the Mahometans, who have 
held out great indacements to men, representing the 
pleasures that would result from their religion ; and 
the Hindoo teachers, fearing that their people might 
be excited by this most promising new doctrine, 
themselves introduced it into their own teaching. 
It' we must speak the truth as to these matters, we must 
say that the world of heaven is similar to that of man, 
only differing in the greater amount of happiness 
enjoyed. Angels there are in the high places with all 
the apparel and train of their dignit}^ and others of 
lower station with less surroundings. All take up that 
position which is due to their previous merits and 
demerits. Buddha censured concupiscence; Buddha 
never spoke in praise of heaven; he taught of but one 
thing as worthy of praise 'the extinction of sorrow.' 

"All this incoherent account of heaven is but the 
teaching of later writers, who have preached the 
luxuries and rich pleasures of heaven in hopes there- 
by to attract men into the paths of holiness and the 
attainment of sanctity. We cannot say where heaven 
and hell are. All religions hold that heaven is above 
the world and hell below it, and every one of them 
uses heaven to work on men's desires and hell to 
frio-hten them with. Some hold forth more horrors 
than others, acccording to the craft of those that 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 213 

designed them, to constrain men by acting on their fears 
and making them quake and tremble. "We cannot 
deny the existence of heaven and hell, for as some men 
in this world certainly live well and others live ill, to 
deny the existence of heaven and hell would be to 
deprive men's works of their result, to make all their 
good deeds utterly lost to them. We must observe 
that after happiness follows sorrow, after heat cold; 
they are things by nature coupled. If after death 
there is a succession of existence, there must be states 
of happiness and of sorrow, for they are necessarily 
coupled in the way I have explained. As for heaven 
being above the earth or below it I leave intelligent 
people to come to their own conclusions, but as to 
future states of happiness and sorrow I feel no doubt 
whatever." 

Speaking of the many religions and disputes now in 
vogue as to which is the best, he says it "is hard for 
men to relinquish their first ideas, even the devil wor- 
shippers, the lowest of mankind, have faith in their 
own belief and will not hear those who would teach 
them differently," Some seem to change their belief for 
personal protection and benefit, others for protection, as 
is the case of the French Catholic converts in Siam ; 
some who have listened to teaching and become enlight- 
ened. On this subject he quotes a Sutra, supposed to 
be one of the sermons of Buddha, as follows: 

" On a certain occasion the Lord Buddha led a number 
of his disciples to a village of the Kalmachon, where 
his wisdom and merit and holiness were known. And 
the Kalmachon assembled, and did homage to him 
and said many priests and Brahmins have at different 



214 THE PEAEL OF ASIA, 

times visited us and explained their religious tenets, 
declaring them to be excellent but each abused the tenets 
of every one else, whereupon we are in doubt as to 
whose religon is right and whose wrong ; but we have 
heard that the Lord Buddha teaches an excellent 
religion, and we beg that we may be freed from 
doubt, and learn the truth, 

" And the Lord Buddha answered, ' You were right 
to doubt, for it was a doubtful matter. I say unto all 
of you, do not believe in what ye have heard ; that is, 
when you have heard any one say this is especially 
good or extremely bad , do not reason with yourselves 
that if it had not been true, it would not have been 
asserted, and so believe in its truth. Neither have 
faith in traditions, because they have been handed 
down for many generations and in many places. 

"'Do not believe in anything because it is rumored 
and spoken of by many ; do not think that it is a proof 
of its truth. 

" ' Do not believe merely because the written state- 
ment of some old sage is produced ; do not be sure that 
the writing has ever been revised by the said sage, or can 
be relied on. Do not believe in what you have fancied, 
thinking that because an idea is extraordinary it must 
have been implanted by a Dewa, or some wonderful 
being. 

" ' Do not believe in guesses, that is, assuming some- 
thing at hap-hazard as a starting point draw your conclu- 
sion from it; reckoning your two and your three and your 
four before you have fixed your number one. Do not 
believe because you think there is analogy, that is a 
suitability in things and occurences, such as believing 
that as there must be walls of the world, because you 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 215 

see water in a basin, or that Mount Meru must exist, 
because you have seen the reflection of trees, or that 
there must be a creating God, because houses and 
towns have builders. 

" ' Do not believe in the truth of that to which you 
have become attached by habit, as every nation believes 
in the superiority of its own dress and ornaments and 
language. 

" ' Do not believe because your informant appears to 
be a credible person as, for instance, when you see any 
one having a very sharp appearance conclude that he 
must be clever and trustworthy; or when you see any 
one who has powers and abilities beyond what men 
generally possess, believe in what he tells. Or think 
that a great nobleman is to be believed, as he would not 
be raised by the King to high station unless he were a 
good man. 

" ' Do not believe merely on the authority of your 
teachers and masters, or believe and practise jnerelj 
because they believe and practise. I tell you all, you 
must of your own selves know that this is evil, this is 
punishable, this is censured by wise men, belief in this 
will bring no advantage to one, but will cause sorrow. 
And when you know this, then eschew it. 

" ' I say to all of you dwellers in this village, answer 
me this. Lopho, that is covetousness ; Thoso, that 
is anger and savageness, and Moho, that is ignorance 
and folly, when any or all of these arise in the hearts of 
men, is the result beneficial or the reverse ? ' 

" And they answered, 'It is not beneficial O Lord.' 

" Then the Lord continued. Covetous, passionate, 
and ignorant men destroy life and steal, and commit 



216 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

adultery and tell lies, and incite others to follow their 
example, is it not so ? ' 

" And they answered, 'It is as the Lord says.' 

" And he continued, ' Covetousness, passion, ignor- 
ance, the destruction of life, theft, adultery, and lying, 
are these good or bad, right or wrong ? Do wise men 
praise or blame them ? Are they not unprofitable, and 
causes of sorrow ? ' 

" And they replied, ' It is as the Lord has spoken.' 

" And the Lord said, ' For this I said to you, do not 
believe merely because you have heard, but when of 
your own consciousness you know a thing to be evil, 
abstain from it.' 

" And then the Lord taught of that which is good 
saying, ' If any of you know of yourselves that any- 
thing is good and not evil, praised by wise men, ad- 
vantageous, and productive of happiness, then act 
abundantly according to your belief. Now I ask you, 
Alopho, absence of covetousness ; Athoso, absence of 
passion ; Amoho, absence of folly, are these profitable 
or not? ' 

"And they answered, 'Profitable.' 

" The Lord continued, 'Men who are not covetous, or 
passionate, or foolish, will not destroy life, nor steal, 
nor commit adultery, nor tell lies, is it not so? ' 

"And they answered, 'It is as the Lord says.' 

"Then the Lord asked, 'Is freedom from covetousness, 
passion and folly, from destruction of life, theft, adul- 
tery and lying, good or bad, right or wrong, praised or 
blamed by wise men, profitable and tending to happi- 
ness or not ? ' 

" And they replied, 'It is good, right, praised by the 
wise, profitable and tending to happiness.' 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 21Y 

" And the Lord said, ' For this I taught you not to 
beheve merely because you have heard, but when you 
believed of your consciousness then to act accordingly 
and abundantly.' 

" And the Lord continued, 'The holy man must not 
be covetous, or revengeful or foolish, and he must be 
versed in the four virtuous inclinations ( Phrommawi- 
han), w^hich are Meta, desiring for all living things 
the same happiness which one seeks for one's self; 
Karuna, training the mind in compassion towards all 
living things, desiring that they may escape all sorrows 
either in hell or in other existences, just as a man 
who sees his friend ill, desires notliing so much as his 
recovery; Muthita, taking pleasure in all living 
things, just as playmates are glad when they see one 
another ; and Ubekkha, keeping the mind balanced 
and impartial, with no affection for one more than 
another." 

From another Sutra he extracts the following pass- 
age . " Can you respect or believe in religions which 
recommend actions that bring happiness to one's self 
by causing sorrow to others, or happiness to others by 
sorrow to one's self, or sorrow to both one's self and 
to others? Is not that a better religion which pro- 
motes the happiness of others simultaneously with the 
happiness of one's self and tolerates no oppression ? " 

Much of the "Kitchanukit" was inspired by the late 
King Monkut, who had been a monk for twenty-seven 
years, entering the priesthood at the age of tAventy, 
during which time he perfected himself in the English 
language and made the religions of the world his special 
study, bringing to bear upon them an able and vigorous 
mind, hence the "Kitchanukit," or Modern Buddhist, 



218 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

is considered as the views of a deep thinker and close 
reasoner, tj'pifying the primitive creed as taught by 
the Buddha, shorn of most of the superstitions and 
fables injected into it by designing men. It is an 
extensive work and enters into all the details of the 
writer's researches and seems to have been written to 
answer some of. the arguments advanced by the mis- 
sionaries with whom the King and Choo Phya The- 
paken held many conferences in regard to the merits 
of Christianity and the teachings of Buddha, and the 
author acknowledges that he has received much valu- 
able information from them, but in answer to their 
arguments he tells them "that Buddha taught a moral- 
ity as beautiful as theirs and a charity that extends to 
everything that has breath." When they speak of 
faith, he answers "that by the light of the knowledge 
that they have helped him to he can weed out his old 
superstitions, but that he will accept no new ones." 

The following significant passages sum up the theory 
of the Buddhist's belief concerning the unseen God : 
"What is this unseen God, personified by the The- 
ists (Keks) as God, The Creator, the Divine Spirit, 
and the Divine Intelligence ? It seems to me that this 
Divine Spirit (Pra Chitr) is but the actual spirit of 
man, the disposition, be it good or evil, and I think 
that the Divine Intelligence (Phra Winyan) which is 
said to exist in the light and in the darkness, in all 
times and in all places, is the intelligence which flies 
forth from the six gates of the body, the faculties of 
sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and knowledge, 
whose intelligence exists in all places and at all times, 
and knows the good and evil which man does. And 
God the Creator (Pra phu sang) is the Holy Merit and 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 219 

Demerit (Pra Kusala a-kusala), the cause and shaper of 
all existence. Those who have not duly pondered on 
these matters may say that there is a God who exists 
in all places waiting to give men the reward or punish- 
ment due to their good or evil deeds, or they may say 
that prosperity and adversity are the work of angels 
or devils ; but to me it seems that all happiness and 
misery are the natural result of causation (Kam) which 
influences the present existence and will determine the 
nature of the next existence. 

" How can we assent to the doctrine of those who 
believe in but one resurrection — who believe in a man 
being received into heaven while his nature is still full 
of impurity, by virtue of sprinkling his head with 
water or cutting off by circumcision a small piece of 
his skin ? Will such a man be purified by the merit of 
the Lord Allah or of the Great Brahma? We know 
not where they are. We have never seen them. But 
we do know, and can prove, that men can purify their 
own natures, and we know the laws by which that 
purification can be effected. Is it not better to believe 
in this which we can see and know, than in that which 
has no reality to our perceptions ? " 

In concluding his review of the modern Buddhist Mr, 
Alabaster says " The religion of Buddha meddled not 
with the beginning, which it could not fathom ; avoided 
the action of a Deity it could not perceive ; and left 
open to endless discussion that problem which it could 
not solve, the ultimate reward of the perfect. It dealt 
with life as it found it ; it declared all good which led 
to its sole object, the diminution of the misery of all 
sentient beings ; it laid down rules of conduct which 
have never been surpassed, and held out reasonable 



220 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

hopes of a future of the most perfect happiness. Its 
proofs rest on the assumptions that the reason of man 
is his surest guide and that the law of nature is perfect 
justice." 

With all of their adoration of Gautama Buddha, 
his followers have never regarded him as a God, he is 
only the ideal of what any man can become, and this 
is what the late King of Siam attempted to fix in the 
minds of his people, and the adoration given to the 
supposed relics of the Teacher, the teeth or the foot- 
prints, as well as the statues, is only to recall the 
memory of him who trod the path that leads to deliver- 
ance. The veneration of the memory of Buddha is 
perhaps hardly distinguishable among the ignorant 
from the worship of a God ; but in theory the ritual is 
strictly commemorative and does not necessarily 
denote idolatry any more than the blossoms laid on 
the tomb of a loved one by the hand of affection. The 
strict Buddhist believes that by the exercise of virtue, 
austerity and science men may acquire power sufficient 
to make the gods quake on their thrones. The Siamese 
have no fears of the missionaries making any encroach- 
ments on their religion, they encourage missionaries to 
come among them, and with the peculiar tact of the 
Asiatic make as much out of them as possible, and they 
are particularly anxious to have the Board of Missions 
send them physicians to attend their sick and furnish 
medicines free. Prince Dumrong, when informed that 
if he should send some young nobles to America to 
study medicine that they would have to associate with 
Christians and possibly partake of the tenets of our 
creed, replied, "That is of but little consequence, what 
religious ideas that they may pick up would be for- 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 221 

gotten in a month after tliey return." And so it 
would. The teachings of Buddha are pecuharly 
adapted to an oriental people and the missionary labors 
on stony ground and his harvest is a meagre one. 

To King Monkut are the Siamese indebted for a 
more liberal and progressive idea of Buddhism ; he is the 
Luther of a reform in that religion. For twenty-one 
years he was a recluse in a monastery, its chief priest, 
during which time, after much study, he arrived at the 
conclusion that it was folly for him or the priests to 
longer attempt to prove the genuineness of the 85,000 
volumes of sacred books which were regarded canonical. 
With a boldness unusual in a son of the sunland he 
enunciated his belief of their fabulous origin and his 
desire to purge the sacred literature of fables and 
restore the church to its former purity. He soon 
found himself at the head of a new school, which 
rapidly increased in popularity, numbering among his 
followers most of the advanced thinkers and prominent 
men of his age. After a thorough investigation 
he was astounded at the mysticism and priest- 
craft that had been the prurient growth of the mon- 
asteries; he and his followers rejected thousands 
of the old school books as unorthodox, especially those 
that could not be made to harmonize with the cosmo- 
graphy of the universe as now held by the scientific 
world. This new school was far more enlightened, 
liberal and expansive than the old and is to-day the 
ruling doctrine of the entire kingdom. When it was 
thought that the Prince was leaning toward Christianity 
he wrote to one of the missionaries, "You must not 
think that any of my party will ever become Chris- 
tians ; we will not embrace what we think is a foolish 



222 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

religion." On the day of his death he wrote a fare- 
well address to the priesthood, the spirit of which was 
that " all existence is unreliable, everything mutable, 
that he himself would presently be obliged to submit 
to that stern necessity, going a little before them." 
Just as his spirit was trembling on the threshold of the 
unseen he said to his sorrowing attendants, " Do not 
be surprised or grieved by my thus leaving you, since 
such an event must befall all creatures who come into 
this world, and is an unchanging inevitability " and 
thus passed away one of the most profound scholars 
and philosophers of the East, who did much for his 
people, the Luther of Buddhism. 

As an evidence of the liberal toleration of King 
Chulalongkorn, in regard to religious matters, in 1870 
he issued a proclamation concerning the morals 
of his people and closed . with the following 
noble sentiments which, at the time, was regarded as 
an advanced step in religious matters : " In regard to 
the concern of seeking and holding a religion that 
shall be a refuge to yourself in this life, it is a good con- 
cern, and exceedingly appropriate and suitable that 
you all — every individual of you — should investigate 
and judge for himself according to his own wisdom 
(what is right and what is wrong). And when you 
see any religion whatever, or any company of religion- 
ists whatever, likely to be of advantage to yourself — a 
refuge in accord with your own wisdom, — hold to that 
religion with your own heart. Hold it not with a 
shallow mind — with but slight investigation — with 
mere guess work, or because of its general popularity, 
or from mere tradition, saying that it is the custom 
held from time immemorial, and do not hold a religion 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 223 

that you have not good evidence is true and then 
frighten men's fears and flatter their hopes by it. Do 
not be frightened and astonished at diverse events 
(fictitious wonders) and hold to and follow them. 
"When you shall have obtained a refuge, a religious 
faith that is beautiful and good and suitable, hold to 
it with great joy and follow its teachings, it will be a 
cause of prosperity to each one of you." 

Each priest carries a spoon shaped fan which he 
holds before his face shutting out from his sight 
objects which might disturb his thoughts. It is one of 
the rules of the monks that when he walks abroad he 
must keep his eyes fixed on the ground within a plough 
length of his feet. Some of the strict ascetics make a 
circle about eighteen inches in circumference on the 
floor and steadily keeping their eyes on it for hours at 
a time do not allow their thoughts to stray from that 
small circle, a type of the Chokra, a quoit like weapon, 
emblem of the power of Indra, King of the Angels, 
known as the " wheel of the law," which is supposed 
to be ever turning and represents the continual ex- 
istence of transmigration. This mystic wheel is stamped 
on the coin of Siam, is found sculptured on the walls 
of ruined temples of a forgotten era, and its wings or 
spokes are called N^edanas or the twelve causes and 
effects of life, the circle of existence. The favorite 
expression " turning the wheel," means to teach the 
law. Some of the northern Buddhists have a wheel to 
which is attached a box full of texts, which they 
revolve at pleasure ; others fasten them on miniature 
water wheels and place them in a running stream 
thus praying by machinery. 



XXIII. 

A TRANSLATION FEOM THE PONGSA- 
WADAN, 

OE HISTOKY OF THE KINGS OF SIAM. 

In the year of the cock 1019 (==A. D. 1658) a French 
ship captain came with merchandise in his vessel to 
Siam to trade. About that time the King* of Siam 
was building a large ship. When it was finished and 
all ready to launch, he commanded his interpreters to 
ask the French merchant how they launched large ves- 
sels most successfully in France? The Frenchman 
being a man of intelligence, and having great exper- 
ience in ship carpentry, answered, that he would volun- 
teer to launch the vessel himself ; and immediately pre- 
pared a tackle and capstan with which he drew the ves- 
sel out into the water with the greatest ease. The 
king was much pleased and rewarded him bountifully. 
Soon after this the king made him an officer of Govern- 
mtnt with the title Looang Wich'a-yen, and gave him 
a house and ensignia of office, and allowed him to do 
the king's business. Looang Wich'a-yen was very 
faithful in all his duties and thereby found favor with 
the king. He was afterward promoted and received 
the title of P'ra Wich'a-yen. Some time after this, 
when he became more skillful in business, the king 
promoted him again, and gave him the title of P'raya 
Wich'a-yen. 

One day the king asked him what kind of valuable 

224 




The High Priest of Siam. 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 225 

and curious things they had m France ? P'raya Wich'- 
a-yen answered by praising everything, and saying 
that in France they had people who could make clocks, 
and watches, and air-guns, and cannon, and telescopes, 
and microscopes, and a great many other valuable and 
wonderful things ; and they also had money in great 
abundance. He said that in the palace of the king of 
France they cast silver in large octagonal bars about 
twelve inches in circumference, and seven or eight 
cubits long, and piled them up at the sides of the 
streets like logs of wood. One of these pieces of silver 
would be more than thirteen or fourteen men could 
lilt. In the inside of the palace the floors were of varie- 
gated marble interlaid with gold and silver and prec- 
ious stones in the figure of trees, flowers, mountains and 
various animals. The walls were lined with beautiful 
pictures, and splendid mirrors; the ceilings were 
adorned with tassels of gold leaf hanging in beautiful 
festoons, and variegated glass chandeliers of various 
kinds. 

When the king of Siam heard this story of P'raya 
Wich'a-yen he did not believe it. Wishing very much 
to know the truth of it, he called Chow P'raya Kosa- 
t'ibawdee and said, I wish to prepare a ship and send 
an embassy to France, to see the wonderful things 
there, and ascertain if possible, whether the story of 
P'raya Wich'a-yen be true or not. Chow P'raya Kosa- 
t'ibawdee answered, I know of no person except my 
brother Nai Fan who would be suitable for an embas- 
sador to France to seek for the information your 
Majesty desires. I therefore recommend him. The 
king then commanded to bring Nai Pan into the 
royal presence, whereupon he said to him, Nai Pan 



226 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

you are a man of considerable intelligence, I will send 
you as an embassador to France to see the wealth of 
the king, and to find out if the story of P'raya Wich'a- 
yen is true. Nai Pan bowed himself and consented to 
goon the king's business. He retired from the royal 
presence, and began to prepare the ship and make 
preparations for the journey. He sent out to find men 
that were skillful in the various magic arts to accom 
pany him. He found a teacher who was learned and 
^skillful in the various cunning and magic arts, and was 
a drunkard, who consented to accompany him. Nai 
Pan was greatly rejoiced at this. He then engaged 
some Frenchmen and others for officers and sailors for 
his ship. 

When everything was in readiness, he besought his 
brother Kosa to conduct him into the king's presence, 
that he might take leave of his Majesty. The king 
then commanded to prepare a royal letter, and 
appointed Nai Pan as principal embassador, with 
others to convey the royal letter and some presents to 
the king of France, and make a treaty of friendship. 

On a favorable day Nai Pan, with his attendants, 
took leave of their friends, and conducting his whole 
company on board the ship set sail for France. 

When they had been out at sea about four months, 
they came upon a large whirlpool in their course, near 
the mouth of a river on the coast of France. There 
arose a storm of wind which carried their ship into the 
midst of the whirlpool, in which place it kept whirling 
for three days. All on board the ship were wailing 
with loud noise on account of the danger of their lives ; 
because every ship that came into the whirl must be 
lost. Kot one had ever yet escaped. Nai Pan the 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 227 

first embassador alone had presence of mind, and con^ 
suited with the magician teacher thus : — Our ship has 
fallen into the whirlpool and has been whirling for two 
or three days ; what plan can you devise to get it out 
in safety, that we may all escape death ? The magi- 
cian teacher then comforted the heart of the embassa- 
dor saying, fear not. I will most certainly bring the ship 
out of all danger. The magician teacher prepared some 
offerings, lighted papers, and dressed himself in white 
robes and sat down to meditate (Samat'i Chamron P'ra 
Kamt'an Tang Wayo-krasin), that is, fixed his mind 
exclusively on counting his breath. Presently there 
arose a great wind which lifted the vessel and carried 
it beyond the whirlpool. They were all greatly 
rejoiced at this and thence sailed safely into the mouth 
of the river of France. 

They then sent word to the officers of that place 
that a vessel had arrived bringing a Siamese embassv, 
with a letter and presents, and that they desired to 
make a treaty of peace with the French king. The 
Governor of that town forwarded the news up to the 
capital. 

The French king then dispatched an officer with a 
boat to receive the Siamese embassadors and bring 
them up to the city, and allowed them to lodge at a 
hotel. They were afterwards admitted to the presence 
of the king, and presented the letter with the royal 
presents. The king then commanded the interpreters 
to ask them about their voyage, whether they came 
safely or not. When the king heard that their vessel 
had been in the whirlpool for three days, and had 
escaped in safety, he did not believe it, because never 
before had a single vessel escaped from that whirl of 



228 THE PEAilL OF ASIA. 

Avater. The king, to be certain, commanded to ask 
them again. The chief embassador affirmed that it 
was true; but the king did not yet believe it, and called 
the Frenchmen who had come as officers of the ship 
and inquired of them. They assured the king that it 
was true. His majesty thought it very miraculous. 
The king then asked them how they managed to get 
the ship out of the whirlpool? The embassador 
answered, I besought the merit and power of their 
Majesties, the kings of Siamand Franco to assist, and 
not suffer the treaty about to be formed, to be 
destroyed. It was this power and merit of both 
Sovereigns, in which we trusted that caused the wind 
to arise, which lifted our vessel out of the whirlpool. 

When the king of France heard this he believed it, 
and remarked that the king of Siara had the same 
amount of merit with himself. 

Some time after this the king sent for the embassa- 
dors to come into the royal presence. He then ordered 
a company of 500 soldiers — all good marksmen, to be 
drawn up and placed in two ranks, directly facing 
each other — 250 ou a side. They fired simultaneously, 
and each man on either side lodged his ball in the barrel 
of the gun in the hands of the man opposite to him, 
without a single failure. The king then asked them if 
they had any as good soldiers — sharpshooters as these 
in Siam? The chief embassador answered that the 
kins: of Siam did not esteem this kind of skill in the art 
as worth much in war. When the king of France heard 
this he was displeased, and asked them what kind of 
skill in soldiers did the king of Siam value? The embassa- 
dor answered, the king of Siam admires soldiers who 
are well skilled in the magic arts, and such as, if good 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 229 

marksmen like your Majesty's soldiers here, would fire 
at them, the balls would not touch their bodies. His 
Majesty the king of Siam has some soldiers who can go 
unseen into the midst of the battle, and cut off the 
heads of the officers and men in the enemy's ranks, and 
return unharmed. He has others who can stand under 
the weapons of the enemy to be shot at, or pierced 
with swords and spears and yet not receive the least 
wound or even injury. Soldiers skilled in this kind of 
art, the king of Siam values very highly, and keeps 
them for use in the country. 

The king of France did not believe this story, and 
remarked that the Siamese embassadors were boasting 
beyond all reason. The king then commanded to ask 
them if they had any soldiers skilled in this kind of art 
along with them in the ship? and could they give a 
specimen of their art ? 

The embassador remembering the feat of the magic 
teacher in lifting their ship out of the whirlpool, 
answered, the soldiers we have along for use in the 
vessel are but common soldiers; but we can give your 
Majesty a specimen of their skill. The king asked, 
what can they do? The embassador said, I beg your 
Majesty to arrange this company of 500 soldiers, 
sharp-shooters, in a position far off, and near as they 
please, to fire at my soldiers, and they will ward off 
the bullets, and not suffer a single one to touch them. 

When the king of France heard this proposal, 
fearing lest his soldiers would kill the Siamese, and 
tliereby destroy the treaty of friendship about to be 
formed between them, was unwilling to make the trial. 
The embassador then answered, your Majesty need not 
fear in the least. My soldiers really have an art by 



230 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

which they can ward off the bullets, and not suffer one 
to touch them. If it please your Majesty, then to- 
morrow let them prepare a platform here, having an 
awning of white cloth, and surrounded with flags, and 
place upon the platform some refreshments and wine; 
then spread the word and let all the people of the town 
come to witness my feat. 

The king then prepared all these things as was 
requested. The following day the embassador reques- 
ted his magic teacher to select and prepare sixteen 
persons and clothe themselves entirely with the panoply 
of figures for making the person invulnerable, the teacher 
and altogether seventeen persons. "When every thing 
was ready they came into the presence of the king, 
and took seats upon the platform. He then addressed 
the king, — if it please your Majesty let these 500 sharp- 
shooters shoot these seventeen persons seated upon the 
platform. The king then commanded his soldiers to fire. 

The French soldiers then fired several rounds, some 
at a distance, and some near, but the powder would not 
ignite, and their guns made no report. Those seven- 
teen persons uninjured, partook of the refreshments on 
the platform without the least fear or confusion. The 
French soldiers were wonderfully surprised and startled. 
The magic teacher then said, "Don't be discouraged. 
Fire again. This time we will allow the guns to go 
off. The soldiers then fired another round. Their 
guns went off but the bullets fell to the ground, some 
near where they stood, some a little distance farther, 
and some fell near the Dlatform, but not a single man 
was injured. 

When the king of France saw this, he believed all 
the Siamese embassadors had said, and praised their 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 231 

arts very much, remarking he had never seen anything 
to equal it. He then presented the Siamese soldiers 
with money and clothes as a reward, and also feasted 
them bountifully. From this time forward the king 
believed every thing the embassador said. He did not 
doubt a single word. 

Sometime after this the king commanded to ask the 
embassador if they had any more soldiers in Siam as 
skilled in the magic arts as these, or were these all ? 
He answered, these are but common soldiers for going 
in ships, and have very little skill in the arts. The sol- 
diers for guarding the royal capital are much better 
skilled in the magic arts than these. When the king 
heard this he believed, and feared the skill of the Sia- 
mese very much. 

The Siamese had observed that when the French 
king sat upon his throne in the morning, the appearance 
of his person was of a reddish color ; in the middle of 
the day it w^as green, and in the evening of a whitish 
color. They were very anxious to know the cause of 
this. 

One day the king asked the embassador, if, in his 
own court he was an officer of high or low rank ? — and 
when the king of Siam wished to favor any officer very 
much how he showed his favors ? I wish to favor you 
in the same manner. The embassador being desirous 
to come near to examine the king's person to know the 
secret of the various colors mornmg, noon and night, 
now saw his opportunity, and answered, I am but an 
officer of low rank whom the king sends to trade with 
different nations, and I have but little wisdom; but 
there are many high officers in our country who have 
great wisdom and experience who serve his Majesty the 



232 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

king of Siam. It is also the custom, if his Majesty 
wishes to favor any one more than another, to allow 
them to come near to his person, and crouch even at 
his feet. The king of France believed this, and then 
granted to the Siamese embassador the same privilege 
of coming near, even to his foot stool. The embassador 
then saw, that in the morning the royal throne was 
strewn with rubies, at noon with emeralds, and in the 
evening with diamonds ; and that the reflection from 
these precious stones caused his person to appear of 
different colors. 

Upon a certain day the king appeared in state riding 
upon a beautifully caparisoned horse decorated with 
precious stones, and having a large ruby about the size 
of a betel-nut with the hull on, hano-ing: about the 
horse's neck. The reflection from the ruby gave them 
both a reddish color, and very beautiful. The king 
then commanded to ask the embassador if they had 
many precious stones as large as this in Siam. The 
embassador answered, 1 am only an officer for the out- 
side provinces, and am not accustomed to visit the 
royal treasury, and I am therefore afraid to say whether 
there are many or few lest it should not accord with 
the truth. But I remember oil one occasion when the 
king of Siam rode in state upon a v/hite horse, his 
Majesty had a ruby (Tap-t'im) suspended to the horse's 
neck about the size of this one of your Majesty's. 

When the king of France heard this he was pleased, 
and praised the embassador for his eloquent speech as 
worthy of imitation, and commanded to note down his 
words for future reference. 

Sometime after this, when in the king's presence the 
embassador said^ formerly there was a merchant from 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 233 

this country came to Siam to trade. In speaking with 
the king of Siam, he praised the wonderful tilings of 
this country, and said that in your Majesty's palace 
were more beautiful things than were to be found else- 
where in the world. The king of Siara wishing very 
much to know if this was true, has sent your humble 
servant, bearing a royal letter, and presents from my 
lord, to form a treaty of friendship with your Majesty. 
Wlien the king of France heard this, he commanded an 
officer to conduct the embassadors in to examine the 
interior of the royal palace that they might report to 
the king. The officer of the palace then conducted 
them through the palace. The Siamese took note of 
every thing they saw, and found that it exactly cor- 
responded with the story of P'raya Wich'a-yen. 

When they had seen every thing they returned to the 
king's presence and praised the great wealth in the 
royal palace, saying it was equal in beauty with the 
celestial mansions of angels. 

The king was very much pleased with the Siamese 
embassador, and believed all he said. His Majesty was 
also very desirous of retaining his offspring in the 
country, and for this purpose secured him a wife, and 
gave him clothes to dress himself as a Frenchman. The 
king also had his portrait painted, and all his wise say- 
ings carefully noted down. 

Wlien the Siamese embassadors had been in France 
about three years they came to take leave of the king 
to return. The principal embassador committed his 
wife and children to the care of the king. His Majesty 
then gave them money and clothes, and many precious 
and valuable things, and a letter and presents to carry 
back to his Majesty the king of Siam. "When they 



234 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

took leave of the king, he sent an escort of boats to 
accompany them to the ship. 

On a favorable day they set sail, and arrived at their 
native land in safety. Nai Pan was admitted into the 
king's presence, and presented the royal letter and pre- 
sents from the king of France, and related everything 
he had seen. 

The king was very much pleased, and praised the 
wisdom of Nai Pan^ and rewarded him well for his 
faithfulness. 

According to the Siamese History, from which the 
above was translated, that most extraordinary man, 
jSTai Pan, returned safely to Siam about A. D. 1663, and 
was received with high honors by Somdet P'ra JSTarai, 
who Avas then King of Siam, and was subsequently 
made Minister of Foreign Affairs in the place of his 
elder brother who was removed bv death. 




^ 



XXIV. 

"TAUT KATIN" OR WAT YISITIKG. 

Annually the King visits the various wats adjacent 
to Bangkok and in fact every wat throughout his 
realms is either visited by himself in person or by 
deputy during the month of September. Taut Katin 
means the laying down of a pattern to cut patchwork, 
and this is generally the time of year that the priests 
are furnished with robes for their next year wear, being 
donated by the King and his suite and others who are 
desirous of making merit, the robes having been made 
by the devout believers in the teachings of the Buddha, 
some of them of rich material, but the larger portion of 
cotton cloth d^^ed yellow, the outcast color adopted by 
the priestly Gautama in his v^anderings, all of which 
are torn into four strips and then sewn together, thus 
imitating patched robes, as a token of humility, the 
example having been set by the great teacher. 

The principal attraction to the foreigner in wat 
visiting is the processions by land and water, which are 
gorgeous in the extreme, the latter of which I have por- 
trayed in the description of a " royal flotilla." In the 
city the wats visited were WatRatahpradit, WatChak- 
krawat, Wat Samphang-napong and others, all of them 
within reasonable distance of the palace. The avenues 
through which the procession passed were lined with 
seamen, who do duty as marines, dressed in white and 
armed with rifles to the number of two thousand, 
making a good show as they stood at regular intervals 

235 



236 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

the whole distance on each side for over a mile from 
the palace. Behind them, at the junction of the 
avenues, a large body of police in full uniform were 
formed in line, but only for show, as there appeared to 
be no need for them. Most of the stores and residences 
along the route were appropriately adorned with red 
and white streamers and altars on which were dis- 
played offerings, some of them very beautiful and costly; 
but flowers, fruit, candles and incense sticks formed the 
greater part. In a number of instances the portrait of 
His Majesty was the central feature. The greatest 
order prevailed as the procession passed along, though 
there was much less of the abject kow-towing that 
formerly prevailed when the King went abroad, the 
usual accompaniment of oriental royalty, but which 
was abolished when His Majesty came to the throne ; 
yet there was no lack of dignity in the pageantry, 
which was imposing and grand. 

The approach of the procession was announced by 
mounted heralds, blowing trumpets, in advance of the 
lancers, who made a fine appearance, about two hun- 
dred, mounted on Australian horses, four deep, and 
ably handled by their officers. A detachment of artil- 
lery with six guns followed, veteran artillerists, then 
came the royal band playing European airs, leading the 
infantry column, comprising several regiments, which, 
were followed by another band and more infantry, 
then the fasces bearers or lictors, and spearmen or tum- 
ruots, who defiled on each side of the road, leaving the 
center clear, A long line of nobles came next, preced- 
ing the palanquin of the King, who graciously acknowl- 
edged the salutations of the foreigners and others with 
his usual grace and dignity. He was dressed in a white 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 237 

tunic and colored silk panung, without any of the 
symbols of his high office beyond the usual decorations, 
his helmet surmounted by a plume of white feathers. 
Immediately following came the chairs of the royal 
children attended by their suites, and then came the 
Princes of the royal household, closed on either side by 
a detachment of the palace guard with retainers leading- 
four caparisoned ponies. Each palanquin was accom- 
panied by the usual royal umbrella, significantly borne 
and appropriately adorned, denoting to the uninitiated 
the rank of those that it covered. H. R. H. Prince 
Ong Noi, brother of the King, followed in advance of 
the royal palace band on horseback, which was escorted 
by the royal guard in double file, numbering about five 
hundred ; then came another band heading a detacli- 
ment of artillery with four Maxim guns and eight rifled 
field guns of the latest pattern, then another company 
of infantry appeared escorting the princes and nobles 
of state, then more rausiC;, and the rear of the procession 
was formed by detachments of seamen, from the vari- 
ous men of war in the harbor, under the command of 
their respective officers, both foreign and native, in full 
uniform. 

Arriving at the wats His Majesty was met by the 
bishops and abbots and escorted into the building 
where services were held, consisting of reading the 
lessons of Buddha, a sermon was then preached, pray- 
ers offered up and the presents distributed. It was a 
solemn and interesting sight, the large temple filled 
with squatting natives, the altars a blaze of light and 
flowers, the statues of Buddha newly gilt, outside 
waving palms, the hum of the multitude, and through 
the ever changing foliage shimmered a stream of gold, 



238 THE PEAJRL OF ASIA, 

a Danai shower. To the denizens of the Western world 
one can hardly realize the devotion that the followers 
of Buddha pay to his teachings, the groundwork of 
which is humility. The King is the head of the church, 
but he bows himself as low as the humblest when the 
bishops ask from the gods that blessings be vouchsafed 
his people. The ceremonies over, the royal retinue 
return to the palace, the priests place their robes away 
and the populace, ever eager to enjoy a holiday, return 
to their homes with no fear of the morrow. 



XXV. 

GEAND DISPLAY OF THE EOYAL FLOTILLA 

ON THE MENAM. 

In days agone the sparkling waters of the Adriatic 
amorously kissed the prow of the beaucentaur and 
reflected back from its pellucid depth the silken banners 
of the Doge of Yenice and his accompanying cavaliers 
when he cast into the opaline flood a jeweled ring, 
wedding the Queen of the Lagoons to the tideless tide, 
whose white-lipped waves spent a wealth of kisses on 
barge and gondola, mirroring chivalry and beauty on 
each swelling billow, a gleam of glory that must ever 
flash from the annals of the sea-born republic like a ray 
of sunshine through some ruined cloister window. 
Turn back the tide of time, forget the centuries fled 
and look out on the fast flowing Menam, glittering 
under an orient sun, and behold a hundred barges 
proudly floating down the stream with pavilions of 
cloth of gold and floating from prow and stern white 
horse-tails, each manned by from forty to seventy oars- 
men who simultaneously lift their paddles from the 
water with a rhythmic motion, uttering a weird chant, 
the crested waves reflecting the brilliant colors of the 
boatmen's uniforms while drops of water fall from 
upraised paddles, a cascade of jewels. Onward sweeps 
the royal flotilla, past palaces and temples, beneath the 
graceful bamboo and towering banyan tree and emerald 
fern, with soft sounds of flute and trumpet floating out 
on the ambient air, making up a pageant akin to that 

239 



240 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

pictured in the pages of the past when the Doge 
wedded the Adriatic. 

The barges in advance were filled with soldiers and 
police, then the nobles, and in each barge the occupant 
reclined on a dais under a showy canopy, and before 
hiui was spread out the insignia of his rank: full sized 
solid gold tea-pot, cuspidor, betel box, ewer, plates, 
goblets, etc. About the center of the flotilla, the 
barges two abreast, came the king in his rua jprateenang, 
barge of state, elaborately carved and gilded, preceded 
by a gold-covered barge with a pagoda filled with 
valuable presents and musicians blowing large ivory 
horns, accompanied by two barges with life - sized 
images of Buddha on their prow, also filled with pres- 
ents. 

The pavilion in the King's barge was festooned with 
curtains of cloth of gold and crimson silk, and the 
seventy oarsmen, clad in scarlet uniforms, swept the 
royal vessel along with a majestic motion, the 
oars being heavily plated with gold. The royal 
barge was one hundred and fifty feet in length, the 
prow and stern rising about ten feet out of the water, 
the whole shaped somewhat like oneof our Indian canoes, 
the hull carved out of an immense teak tree. The 
prow and stern were a mass of carving and inlaid with 
mother of pearl and gold, and from them streamed an 
embroiderd cloth of its owner's rank, and three bunches 
of horse-tails bleached to snowy whiteness. 

The rua prateenang, or royal throne boats, are 
characteristic of Siam of the past as well as of the 
present. For the most part constructed out of one 
single tree, being literally "dug outs," they give a fair 
idea of the size of the trees of the country and the skill 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 241 

of the native builders. They are apparently from 
about 120 to 150 feet in length, and ten to twelve feet 
beam at the center, tapering towards the stem and 
stern, which are each in order adorned by a towering 
beak and a lofty curved and decorated stern. The 
galleys at present used by His Majesty, the King, m 
these royal processions as indicative of supreme control 
and order in Siam are three in number. The first 
and largest is the rua prateenang proper, which bears 
a gilded throne or seat in its centre, and it is emble- 
matic throughout. Its stem or beak is turned back as if 
pointing to the throne, and the boat is altogether a 
marvel of carving and gilded decoration. This galley 
is manned, as is also the other two royal boats, with 
uniformed royal boatmen wearing red tunics and 
caps, their order and number being fifteen on either 
side forward and ten on either side abaft the throne, or 
in all 50 rowers. The galley has no rowlocks or thole- 
pins, but is propelled by hand paddles. 

It is a beautiful sight to witness the progress of these 
boats, as the skill, order and regularity displayed by 
the rowers, and the ease and rapidity with which they 
control the great vessel is hardly to be equaled any- 
where else than in this country. The whole power 
of the paddle rower is thrown into his stroke hj a 
method which is not generally understood. Each man 
faces forward and can see the man before him, though 
the time is given by two regular time beaters, one 
before and one behind the central pavilion, who keep 
raising and lowering a decorated lofty bamboo stick, 
significantly adorned by regularsizegraded tufts of horse- 
hair, after the fashion of the royal umbrellas, and letting 
it strike upon a sounding piece of wood. At the sound 



242 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

of the falling stick each rower plunges his paddle into 
the water and with the full swing of his arms inverts 
it in the air. The galleys have no rudders, but are 
steered by stern oars, and these are, if necessarj^, assisted 
by additional ones forward. Tlie perfect discipline and 
thorough understanding between the commander of the 
galleys and the boatmen make it apparient that one 
mind controls all the workings of the boat, which at the 
word of command is made to remain perfectly motion- 
less, turn in its own length, go ahead or astern, fast or 
slow by the action of the paddles in the hands of the 
rowers. The place of the throne boat in the procession 
is directly in front of the galley which bears His Majesty. 
The center of this boat is taken up with a beautiful 
pavilion, open at the sides and front, though closable 
by royal hangings at will, in which the King himself is 
seated with his courtiers, and probably one or more of 
the royal children. The covering of the pavilion is the 
royal red with a broad gofd border, which is significant 
of His Majesty's government boats in the procession, 
though bearing only subordinate officers. The royal 
galley itself is distinguished more particularly from 
others by its color, which even below the water line 
is golden yellow, while its attendant boat, though 
approaching to the royal barge in decoration, has 
its color different. Colors and forms have all a sig- 
nificance in Siara. While visiting the wats near the 
Palace and where the relics of His royal predecessors 
are preserved, the color used was for the most part 
black. Again, when visiting other wats under royal 
protection gold color was predominant, and on another 
occasion white was extensively used. 

The third royal galley in the procession, which. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA 243 

however, generally keeps a position side by side with 
that containing the King, is for the accommodation of 
those near to His Majesty, though it was said that the 
Chow Fa or heir apparent to the throne goes with the 
King in person on most of these occasions. The 
announcement of the embarkation of His Majesty is 
made by signal gun, and the procession down the river 
is heralded by bugle sounds, the waterway being kept 
clear in consequence. The boats of the navy flotilla 
head the line and clear the way. As many as thirty 
rua-dang boats, each manned by from 50 to T5 men, 
dressed as usual among men-o-war's men in the tropics, 
i. e., in white throughout, and commanded by their 
regular naval officers, who occupied the pavilions in 
the center of each boat, were in the procession, either 
preceding or following the royal throne boats. The 
bugle sound, giving the order to advance, was varied 
at intervals by the music of the bands, the sounds of 
the conch blowers, or players on Siamese wind instru- 
ments, and once in a while by a chant sung in unison 
and in good style by the whole crew of the rua- 
phrateeiiang. The boats kept their exact position in 
the line without varying the distance between each 
other a perceptible fraction of an mch, and as they 
proceeded down the river two by two they formed a 
sight worth going miles to behold. After the royal 
boats manned by seamen of the navy to the number of 
fully 2,000 men had passed came the private boats of 
the Princes, nobles and officers of Siam, each boat 
having its owner's degree displayed in the embroidered 
cloth and accessories hanging from the stem and stern, 
and each manned by the personal retainers of the 
owner in his own livery or uniform. The line of boats, 



24:4: THE PEAKL OF ASIA.. 

mostly two and two, extended more than a mile on the 
river, while in motion, and on the landing of His 
Majesty at any of the wats the boats kept their order 
in the procession without difficulty. 

The Princes' barges were also handsome affairs and 
decorated with horse-tails and embroidered cloths 
which were followed by the barges of nobles, soldiers 
and river police, a magnificent flotilla, truly oriental. 
This was kept up for two days, the King visiting the 
various wats on the river and canals that come under 
his immediate jurisdiction, Prince and noble vying 
with him, merit making, in the liberality of their 
donations to the wats and the yellow-robed followers 
of Buddha who live solely off the charity of the people, 
and it is to the credit of the Siamese that they do not 
allow them to suffer. 

The temples of this people are very handsome and 
the residences of the priests adjacent are used as 
schools where the youths are taught the rudiments of 
a common education. Wats can be seen every where, 
surrounded by groves of the sacred Bo trees, their 
white and gold phrachedas and small tapering spires 
telling the wanderer that a place of rest was nigh. 
Adjacent to each temple is a sala, an open house, for 
persons to stop in should they desire to do so, virtu- 
ally a place of rest. 

When the King, with his flotilla, comes down the 
river from his palace, the various consulates, palaces 
and shipping display their flags ; police boats patrol 
the stream and canals and a general holiday prevails. 
I was informed by a young lady, a native of Bangkok, 
that in the early days when the King went to visit the 
wats, foreigners were not allowed to witness the cere- 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 245 

mony, in the bow of the royal barge servitors were sta- 
tioned with balls of mud which they would let fly 
from a sling at the peeping Toms along the line of 
travel. The law is very rigid in regard to accidents 
happening to the royal barge, the penalty death, but 
should one occur the steersman in charge has only to 
break his paddle during the excitement and it thus 
being deemed unavoidable he escapes the full penalty, 
especially as the King is very humane. Among the 
many legends of Siam and its rulers is the account of 
the execution of the steersman of a King's barge, 
which took place during the reign of the ruler known 
for his ferocity as the Tiger King. While the barge 
was going at full speed through one of the canals, 
upon turning a sharp point it ran into a tree that had 
blown across the klang, breaking off the effigies and 
gilding on the bow of the barge, toppling his Majesty 
off of his dais and shaking things up generally. As 
soon as the boat struck the tree the man leaped into 
the water and swam ashore, sat down and awaited his 
doom. The King, knowing that the accident was 
unavoidable, pardoned him on the spot, holding him 
guiltless, but the boatman would not accept it, declar- 
ing that the law must be carried out, that if he 
accepted a pardon it would be establishing a bad prec- 
edent, all he asked was that a sala be erected on the 
spot where he was executed. Remonstrances proving 
unavailing, the King, with tears in his eyes, gave the 
order, and the boatman, true to the laws and his alle- 
giance, was decapitated, a Siamese Brutus, whose 
name will ever live in the traditions of his land. His 
remains were cremated with special honors, his family 
ennobled and the sala erected to his memory, as the 



246 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

Siamese are not parsimonious in well-doing for a 
friend, or one that adds a luster to tlieir annals. These 
barges are only used on state occasions and are tlien 
taken out of the water and carefully housed, some of 
them doubtless a hundred years old. I regarded the 
pageant of " wat visiting " as the handsomest display 
of barbaric grandeur that I had witnessed in this land 
of orientalism. 



XXVI. 

THE MAREIAGE CEREMONY AMONG THE 
AFFLUENT. 

From a Siamese manuscript I condense the following 
in regard to tiie marriage between a couple of young 
people in the higher walks of life. Elsewhere I spoke 
of the ceremony in general. The first step is to secure 
an elderly woman, a friend of the family, whom the par- 
ents of the young man consult in regard to securing a suit- 
table wife for their son, she arranges a meeting of friends 
at the house of the parents of the young woman whom 
she has selected; the day having been declared favor- 
able by the astrologers, betel is brought out and the 
conference commences by an appeal to the parents of 
the girl, assuring them that the desire of the young- 
man was the happiness of their daughter, that he 
regarded her as the only one with whom he could be 
happy, to comfort him in sickness and care for him in 
death, and then ask : '• What wilt thou father and thou 
mother say to us ? " The parents reply " Our daughter 
we love much, the son of the respectable parents you 
represent to us is one they also love, w^e must rely on 
the ancient proverb: ' Move slowly and you will gain 
your object; a prolonged effort will be likely to result 
prosperously ; ' hence we must counsel with our rela- 
tions before we can give you an answer." When an- 
other favorable astrological day has come the parents 
of the young man call their friends together and re- 
quest that they again go to the residence of the girl 

247 



24:8 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

and ask what will be the answer of her parents. They 
do so and if the proposition is favorable they are told : 
" We have counseled with our kinsmen and find them 
of the opinion that if the young man truly feels that 
he can confide in our daughter to take care of him in 
sickness and pay suitable attention to his body after 
death, that then his confidence should be allowed to 
grow and flourish.'^ Then comes the question in regard 
to the ages of the respective parties, they must not 
be born in years antagonistic with one another; for 
instance the year of the rat and the year of the dog, the 
cow and the tiger, the tiger and the rabbit, or the dog 
and the monkey, each of them couplets and regarded 
as antagonizing ; the husband born in one year and the 
wife in the other of the couplet would, in the course of 
nature, quarrel and fight. The parents respectfully 
request that some fortune-teller be consulted in regard 
to the times of their respective births which will allow 
them to live happily together. This matter settled, 
the delegated friends are again sent to the parents of 
the young woman, who has not been consulted, and 
ask concerning the property or money that they pro- 
pose to give to assist the young couple to go to house- 
keeping, who reply : " We can not devote much of our 
effects for that purpose, but how much will the parents 
of the young man give ? " To this the friends reply: 
" It is left entirely to you to say what you think would 
be suitable." They reply: " If such be the case, we would 
suggest a hundred ticals to build a house, to be made of 
wood, and a thousand ticals for mutual trade ; also, 
that they contribute betel and cakes for the wedding, 
at least one hundred salvers or dishes, will they be 
willing to do this ? " They reply : "We must report first, 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 249 

but allow us to inquire how much will you give maa 
ch'in (the bride) as her portion ? " They answer , 
" Should the honorable parents of the young man do 
as we propose we will give our daughter as her toon 
(dowry) one thousand ticals and two or three slaves." 
This done and all the arrangements perfected, the bride- 
groom is taken to the residence of the bride, so that he 
can pay his respects to her parents, prostrates himself on 
the floor before them and craves their permission to see 
their daughter and that he may be allowed to call from 
time to time as he may desire, which is granted, and from 
that time on he is regarded as one of the family. The 
bridegroom then commences the erection of his house 
adjacent to and aided by his father-in-law and other 
friends. The astrologers are now consulted as to when 
an auspicious day will arrive for the ceremony, and it 
being determined the relatives and friends soon com- 
plete the building and then the parents of the two 
parties select five friends to receiTO the money and two 
white garments, presents to the parents of the bride, 
with the wedding cakes and betel, according to the 
agreement. These things are conveyed in a procession 
headed by a band of music and are presented to the 
parents of the bride, who bring forth the dowry and 
slaves, publicly giving them to the bride. 

After this ceremony they all repair to the new house 
and are duly seated, the white raiment is exhibited and 
the money brought by both parties spread out on the 
floor and counted ; the two sums are then mixed 
together, fragrant oil and flour and a little paddy 
scattered over the heap, symbolic of blessings asked 
for, that their rice, oil and perfumery may ever abound. 
The money is then handed to the mother of the bride 



250 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

to hold as trustee for the purpose it was given. This 
ceremony generally takes place at midday. A rich 
feast is then spread after which the friends disperse and 
return again in the cool of the evening with several 
priests who hold religious services. Prior to this the 
bride sends out a youth handsomely dressed with a 
waiter of betel nut inviting the bridegroom and his 
attendants to come in and be seated in the wed- 
ding hall, which is handsomely decorated wuth ferns 
and flowers, she and her attendants being screened by 
a curtain stretched across the hall. When the religious 
services are closed the curtain is lifted and certain 
elders proceed to administer the holy water of blessing. 
The young couple are seated close together, the chief 
elder takes up the vessel of holy water, pours a little 
on the head of the man and then on the head of the 
woman, pronouncing a blessing as he does so. The bride 
then retires and changes her dress for one more brilliant 
and at the same time a finely dressed boy presents, on 
a silver salver, a handsome suit to the bridegroom, a 
present from the parents of the bride, called Pa hawi- 
haw, which he proceeds to don. In the meantime the 
priests are quoting texts from the works of Buddha, 
then refreshments are served, tea, sweets and ices, and 
the priests receive yellow robes. The special guests 
are then invited to partake of a banquet prepared by 
the family of the bride, after which further proceedings 
are adjourned till next day, all repairing to their re- 
spective homes but the bridegroom, who remains in 
the new dwelling where he assembles a band of musi- 
cians, and he and a few of his friends keep up a revelry 
all night, thus serenading the bride. 

Early next morning the friends of both parties assem- 



. THE PEATtL OF ASIA. 251 

ble at the new home and vie with each other in feeding 
the priests and themselves. Nothing preventing and 
the astrologers announcing that the day was propitious, 
the nuptials will be closed that evening by the selection 
of a middle-aged couple, friends of the bride, who have 
been blessed with a numerous progeny, to arrange the 
bridal chamber and marriage bed. This is done under 
the belief that such service performed by so meritorious 
a couple will secure like blessings on the happy bride 
and groom. At 10 o'clock p.m. someof the elders con- 
duct the bride ceremoniously to her new abode where 
she is received by her husband; they remain with them 
an hour or so, giving them the best counsels and 
exhortations of which they are capable, and then, 
beseeching from the fates the highest blessings of the 
marriage state to rest upon them, they retire and this 
closes the nuptial ceremonies. 

After two or three days the bridegroom takes the 
bride to visit his father's family, when she prostrates 
herself before them, carrying with her a few presents 
for the different members of the family in the form of 
cakes, bouquets, etc. Her father-in-law then makes her 
some valuable presents, generally jewelry. A few days 
after this the bride will conduct her husband on a cere- 
monial visit to her parents, at whose feet he will bow 
down when he will receive some valuable presents in 
silver or gold. At the time of the birth of the first 
child, the toon, which was committed to the care of 
the parent of the bride, is bi-ought out and delivered over 
to the young mother. Up to this time they have lived 
upon her parents, from thence onward they will have 
to care for themselves. The birth of the first child is 
celebrated by the relatives on both sides in bringing 



252 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

presents for the child, intended as a peace offering to 
make its spirit bold and courageous, denominated 
tara-k'wan There are many varieties of wedding 
ceremonies in vogue among the natives, but they all 
partake of the character of the one described, some 
being more elaborate than others and the presents 
more costly, while those of the lower classes arrange 
to have the ceremony concluded in one day. It is 
thouo:ht bad form for a man to take a wife without 
some kind of public ceremony to sanction the union, 
but many of the peons do so. 

The Laos have a form of marriage which is in most 
cases performed and recorded by the Kai, magistrate, 
of the district it happens in. A divorce may also be 
obtained by the parties if they are not comfortably 
suited to each other, but it must be by mutual agree- 
ment, except in severe cases of inconstancy on the 
part af the bride. Then they are separated by consent 
of the husband. A young aspirant to the hand of a 
female begs for the flower in her hair. If she gives it 
to him, he knows that his suit is a favorable one ; but if 
it is refused him he knows to the contrary. One great 
mark of honor, to be placed to their credit, is that a 
young couple engaged to be married have every confi- 
dence placed in them by the parents of the bride, and 
it is a rare case that it is ever violated, the Laos women 
being generally virtuous. 



XXVII. 

THE ATTAP PALM, TOITG YAl^G AND 
OTHER TREES. 

One of the most peculiar growths of Siam is the 
Attap Palm, a cross between a tree and a fern, found 
only in the alluvial lands at the head waters of the 
gulf and along the rivers entering therein. Its leaves 
are held in high repute by the natives as a thatch for 
covering their houses. Its center or trunk is a large 
bulb, from two to three feet in diameter, from which 
shoot from thirty to forty immense leaves, somewhat 
resembling the cocoa palm, which stand out vsrith 
singular uprightness and then curve outward like a 
gigantic lily, generally having an undeveloped leaf in 
the center that stands from eight to twelve feet in 
height. The full-grown leaf varies from twenty to 
twenty-five feet in length and resembles a monster 
fan. It is found along the banks of rivers and canals 
and when undisturbed forms an almost impenetrable 
jungle. The leaves are cut in three-foot lengths and 
fastened on the roofs by being tied to bamboo slats that 
extend across the rafters; formerly the strings were 
made from the midrif of the talliput palm which is 
very flexible, but now imported twine is used in the 
towns. The attap comprises both genders in the same 
tree and at times is full of sap which the natives obtain 
by tapping the tree similar to the way the mapie is 
tapped in America, and convert the sap into sugar as 
they do that of the Palmyra palm, the monarch of the 

253 



254 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

palms. Frequently the sap will flow for a month or 
longer. The blossom is cylindrical, about four inches 
long and very fragrant even after it becomes dry, and 
its fruit grows in clusters of from eighty to one 
hundred on a single stem, forming a globe about one 
foot in diameter, which when ripe are of a glossy pur- 
ple hue and have a hard hull. It begins to bear from 
its fourth year and has annually from four to eight 
clusters, requiring six months to mature. The stems 
that bear the fruit and blossoms are made into brooms 
and brushes resembling a horse's tail after they are 
hackeled, some of the unfolded leaflets are used for 
cigarette wrappers. It is a tree almost unknown in 
Europe or America. 

The Ton Yang or oil tree is another of the peculiar 
trees of this peculiar land. It grows in all parts of 
Siam and is one of the largest and most imposing trees 
found in the tropics; it grows very straight, like the 
betel, and reaches a height of from one hundred and 
eighty to two hundred and thirty feet, free from knot 
or limb, and is used for the immense pillars required 
for the premains or temples for royal cremations. Its 
leaf is similar to the bass wood of America and its 
remarkable characteristic is its oil-bearing quality. The 
oil is obtained by tapping the tree, cutting a large 
notch two or three feet from the ground, the base of 
the notch being made so that it will form a basin 
capable of holding a half-gallon to catch the drip, but 
the tree will not yield readily till the notch is charred 
thoroughly. A large tree twelve feet in circumfer- 
ence can be tapped in several places and each notch 
will yield a gallon or more in twenty-four hours. At 
first the oil is milky and thin, but it soon becomes thick 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 255 

and brown by exposure. It is then brought to market 
in large jars and sold for the purpose of oiling boats 
and other purposes. By mixing it with finely pulver- 
ized rosin a cement is made with which the natives fill 
the seams of their boats, they also mix a small 
quantity of rosin with the oil and varnish the bottom 
of their boats which when it becomes dry is hard, 
glossy and impervious to water. This tree has 
almost entirely disappeared from the vicinity of Bang- 
kok and can only be found in the distant jungles. 

The Betel tree, the Aureca palm,, attains great per- 
fection on the plains of Siamand throughout the Strait's 
settlements ; its maximum height is about ninety feet, 
its trunk is very slender and straight and is only from 
six to ten inches in diameter near the root which 
continues with but little change until the top is reached, 
having no limbs, and is crowned with a tuft of long 
lace-like leaves, six or eight in number, which branch 
like blades of corn from the stalk, each leaf being six 
or seven feet in length, curving gracefully outward as 
they bend before the monsoon. Betel trees are 
extensively cultivated and commence bearing from the 
third to the fifth year and continue to do so for nearly 
forty years, when they decay at the root. The fruit 
grows in clusters from three to five in number at a 
time, each cluster having an independent stem on which 
is suspended from one hundred and fifty to three 
hundred nuts. The clusters are attached to the tree a 
little below the insertion of the leaves, hanging in the 
shade, two or three leaves lopping over them. When 
ripe the nuts are about the size and shape of an egg- 
plum and exchange their deep green color for that of a 
reddish yellow and look like small oranges. The outer 



256 THE PEAEL OF ASIA, 

part of the fruit is a tough hull a quarter of an inch 
thick. When stripped of its hull it is about the size of 
a large hickory nut, has the consistency of a peach 
kernel and is considered one of the essentials of life; 
all chew it. When the nut is in a dry state it is broken 
into small particles and mingled with a vermilion- 
colored lime paste and a little ceri-leaf makes a mouth- 
ful that renders the chewer hideous. The natives 
prefer it in its unripe state, and the girls and women 
prepare it in the most dextrous manner. Notwithstand- 
ing the practice of betel chewing is very filthy, it is 
universal among the people, causing the users of it to 
expectorate large quantities of blood-red saliva, distorts 
their lips, blackens their gums and teeth, causing the 
sockets of the teeth to become calloused so that many 
of their teeth fall out at an early age. Chewing betel 
has obtained greater power over the Siamese than 
tobacco over other nations, and it is extremely rare 
that a man, or a woman, or even a child, over ten years 
of ag'e, can be found who is not addicted to it or some 
of its substitutes. They would sooner go without their 
rice than their betel. It is to the Siamese what the 
pipe of tobacco is to the American Indian, and it is 
considered a breach of hospitality if betel is not handed 
round to their guests; marriages can not be perfected 
without this token of friendship, in fact the Siamese 
word for marriage is Kenmac — a basin or salver of 
betel. 

The ceri-leaf, which always goes with the betel, is a 
member of the pepper family, the plant is reared on 
poles or trellises, and the leaf is a bright green with a 
pungent taste, the fruit resembling the long pepper. It 
is for its pungent qualities that it is used with the betel 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 257 

and sometimes a pinch of tobacco is added. The other 
ingredient of the betel compound is red lime paste, 
which is made of newly burnt lime, and before it is 
slacked a decoction of tumeric root is poured on it 
which causes it to form a paste taking a fine vermilion 
color. While in this plastic state it is brought to 
market and sold up and down the river by hucksters, 
who retail it in little earthen pots holding a half a pint, 
twenty of which they sell for a fuang or a bucketful 
for a salung. This red lime is spread on the ceri-leaf 
with a wooden spatula and then rolling the lime up in 
the leaf it is placed in the mouth with a piece of betel, 
then the mastication commences and soon the red saliva 
is ejected in a stream. It is one of the filthiest practices 
that the Siamese are addicted to. 

The Cocoa Palm is another valuable tree and found 
in all tropical countries; its average height is about 
eighty feet, and, like the betel, runs up a staff till near 
the apex, when it branches out into a crown of about 
twenty pinnatisect leaves about fifteen feet long by 
six feet wide. Each leaf has nearly one hundred leaf- 
lets set two inches apart on either side of its spine, 
which are generally about three feet long by three 
inches wide. Immediately beneath the leaves hang 
clusters of fruit, each having from six to eight nuts 
attached, and as they bear perennially ripe fruit antl 
blossoms can be seen on the same tree, it requiring 
about six months for the nuts to mature. The nut 
proper is encased in a husk of fibrous nature which has 
to be cutoff. When the nut has attained its medium 
growth it can be easily cut with a knife and it then 
contains about a half pint of fluid, cooling and nourish- 
ing as a drink, and they are sold in the bazaars for that 



258 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

purpose at a cent a piece. Travelers through the 
jungles drink nothing else if the nut is obtainable. It 
is very useful for a dipper, fur culinary purposes, to 
measure rice, it being the standard measure of the 
kingdom for that purpose, the T'anon or one and a 
half pints; its meat is used in cooking and enters into 
most Siamese dishes, especially curry; large quantities 
of oil are also extracted from it, sold by the gallon, 
and is an article of export, much of it being used in 
illuminations and, in fact, until petroleum was intro- 
duced was the only illuminator that they had, it being 
frequently pressed into candles, hardened by a chem- 
ical process. The trees are also tapped for sugar, same 
as the betel, but the sugar is better and larger quanti- 
ties are made, as is also from the Palmyra palm. This 
tree is the largest of its species, sometimes reaching 
the height of one hundred and eighty feet, tall and 
slender, and its crown consists of from twenty to thirty 
leaves, each leaf describing a circle, with a radius of 
three feet, shaped like a fan that opens both ways till 
the two handles meet, leaving the folds of the fan slack, 
three or four feet in length, which being round on the 
under side and grooved on the upper form a conductor 
for rain or dew to the parent stem. Like the cocoa, 
they bear at all times and have more blossoms during 
the dry season than the wet, which is the time that 
the natives select for obtaining the sap and making 
sugar. The fruit is smaller than the cocoa nut and 
each hull contains three nuts about the size of a goose 
egg which, before it matures, is filled with a delicious 
fluid. The chief use for the Palmyra palm is its sagar 
bearing, the natives making large quantities 'from it, 
and it is asserted that from thirty to forty millions of 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 259 

pounds is made annually, the province of Petchaburee 
alone furnishing over ten million pounds upon which 
a tax of forty thousand ticals ($20,000) is collected. 
The Teak, the wood of commerce and general use, is 
mentioned elsewhere. The woods of Siam are many 
and some very valuable, especially Padoo, Rose, Ebony, 
Sapan, Agilla wood, etc., many of them unknown to 
the commercial world. 




XXTIII. 

HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS 

t'eep ch'ing ch'a holidays. 

These always occur on the Tth and 9th waxing moon 
of the second month. On each of these days a large pro- 
cession is made for the Chief Minister of the Rice 
Department, by which he is carried in great pomp to 
the place called Sou ch'ing ch'a (pillars for swinging). 
A brick platform, carpeted with white muslin and 
tastefully curtained, having been prepared for him, he 
ascends it, and stands on one foot attended by four 
Brahmin priests, two on his right and two on his left 
hand, until three games of the swinging have ended, 
which occupy usually about two hours. If he venture 
to touch his raised foot to the floor before the games 
are ended, the Brahmins, it is said, are allowed to strip 
him of his property and otherwise dishonor him. 
When the games are over the swingers (persons 
belonging to the Bt'ahrain priests) dip up with bullockb' 
horns water made holy by Brahminical ceremonies, 
and sprinkle it upon all about them. This is the Brah- 
minical mode of calling blessings down upon the people 
of the land. The ceremonies of the first dav being 
finished, the Chief Minister is escorted home by a pro- 
cession like the one that brought him. This is all done 
in the forenoon. The ceremonies of thesecondday are 
performed in the afternoon. The King does not usually 
grace them with his presence. But they are attended 

360 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 261 

by many of the princes and officers of government, and 
crowds of people. 

KKOOT CHEEN HOLIDAYS. 

January 22d, 23d, and 24th. These three days are 
universally observed by the Chinese as their ^ew 
Year holidays. The 23d of January is the first day 
of their year. Nearly all their ordinary business stops 
during those three days, and it requires at least three 
days more to recover themselves from the dissipations 
of that season. As the Siamese are intimately connec- 
ted with them, the derangement of busiin'ess extends 
througiiout all their affairs also. 

SEASON FOR VISITING p'rA HAT 

January 29th, and February 6th, inclusive. This 
is the season which the Buddhists of Siam very 
generally spend in visiting P'ra Hat, about 100 miles 
north of Bangkok, where tradition affirms Buddha 
once placed his foot on a rock, and left there a clear 
imprint of it, even to all the peculiar and characteristic 
marks on the sole, to be a standing testimony to all his 
followers that he did indeed once live on earth, and 
visited Siam, and was, what their sacred books declare 
him to be, the All-knowing Teacher. 

KROOT t'eI HOLIDAYS. 

]\ |arch 21st^- -2^2d, and 23d. These are the Siam- 
ese New Year holidays, when almost all the Siamese, 
Laos, Cambodians, Peguans, and Burmans engage in 
performing extraordinary works of merit. Nearly 
every family makes a peculiar cake appropriate to the 
season. Fruits of all kinds then in market are pro- 
cured and presented to the priests.- On the third day 
the temple doors are thrown open, and the people, 
more especially the women and children, enter, attired 



2G2 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

in their best clothing, and bow down before the idol, 
and make offerings of flowers, etc. Many of the more 
wealthy families have on each of those days special 
prayers and preaching by the priests at their houses, 
when they feast tliem, and make offerings of j^ellow 
robes and other articles necessary to them as priests. 

The religious services are usually completed by the 
end of the second day; the third day is almost univer^ 
sally devoted to garnes of chance. Men, women and 
children all join in it with all their hearts, as the laws 
of the land give them a gratuitous license to gamble 
on such occasions. 

The King keeps these holidays with much ceremony, 
and with extraordinary religious services, and has 
companies of priests stationed on the top of the city 
walls in regular order surrounding the whole city, to 
perform exorcisms in concert. On the night of the 
first day, the 14:th of theSiamese moon, guns, large and 
small, are fired from the tops of the walls from all 
points of the compass, at intervals of about twenty 
minutes throughout the night. Each gun, it is said, is 
fired 36 times. This is done for the purpose of expell- 
ing the evil spirits from the precincts of the city, and 
thus preparing the way for health and happiness 
to all within the city walls. In .this custom is mani- 
fested about the same wisdom and power that we see 
in the natives, at the times of the eclipses, when guns, 
crackers, gongs and other instruments of rattling and 
confusion innumerable are brought into requisition to 
frighten the fabulous monster Rahu from his effort to 
swallow the sun or moon. As The people, living out- 
side, desire to participate in such blessings and sports, 
many of them join in the concert of firing, so that 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 263 

guns may be heard from many parts of the su-burbs 
all that night. The effects of this universal dissipation 
do not cease for many days after the holidays are past. 
This ceremony is fast falling into disrepute and will 
shortly be entirely abolished, but few guns being now 
fired. 

THE CEREMONY OF t'u NAM. 

March 24:th, 3d of 5th w.axing moon. This is the 
day established from time immem-orial for all tne 
Siamese Princes, Lords, ISTobles, and people, to take 
their first semi-annual oath of allegiance to the King-. 
At that time they assemble at the King's' palace, and 
drink and sprinkle their foreheads with water, in which 
has been dipped swords, daggers, spears, guns, and 
other instruments by which the King may execute ven- 
geance upon those who rebel against him, and thus 
they invoke the royal vengeance by these instruments 
upon themselves, and their families, if they shall be 
found unfaithful to the King. The priests are excused 
from this service by virtue of the sanctity of their 
office. But the chief priests of the temples in and 
about the city meet on that day and perform appro- 
priate religious services at the temple attached to the 
royal palace. 

The governors and people of distant provinces 
renew their oath of allegiance on another day quickly 
succeeding this day. They do it by having a portion 
of the same '' water of vengeance" sent to the residence 
of the governors, who then require all persons of stand- 
ing and influence within their jurisdictions to assemble 
and perform the ceremony. 

SONGKRAN HOLIDAYS. 

These are four successive days occurring generally 



264 THE PEAEL OF ASIA, 

soon after the Siamese 'New Year, but sometimes a little 
before. It is not fixed to a certain month and day of 
month, because it is ruled by the sun, and not at all 
by the moon. It is observed at the time when the 
sun passes from the zodiacal sign Manyaraseo over 
into the sign Matesarasee. When the Brahminical 
astrologers have made up their minds as to the day 
when that event will take place, they inform the King. 
The calculations are usually made by the day of the 
great congregation to renew the oath of allegiance. 
At this time the King issues a proclamation that the 
'"'•PHi'a fa nom fa ly'isa'ke'''' will be observed at the 
royal palace on such and such a day. He also invites 
the priests generally to assemble at his palace on that 
day for a royal festival. 

As to the laity, they very generally have special 
religious services, feast the priests and one another, and 
play at their games of chance much as on their New 
Year holidaj'-s. The women draw water and bathe 
the idol, the persons of the priests, the elders of the 
people, and their grandparents and other aged relatives. 
They do these things thinking to call down blessings 
upon those for wliose benefit they profess to perform 
them ; but more especially upon themselves and their 
families by way of recompense, — a central idea of self- 
righteousness. 

BIKTH, INSPIEATION, AND DEATH OF BUDDHA. 

May 3d, 4th, and 5th. These three days are to 
celebrate three great events in the existence of Buddha 
on earth, which all took place, it would seem, on tiie 
same day of the same moon, viz., the 15th day of the 
6th waxing moon. Those events are, first, his birth; 
second, his most wonderful self-originated inspiration 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 265 

to see and know all things with perfect clearness; and 
third, his death, which then completed 80 3^ears of life 
on earth. These anniversary days are observed by the 
Siamese very generally with great veneration. On the 
second day especially are they all alert in performing 
works of merit, as giving alms to the poor, making 
offerings to the priests, and to the idol, and in hearing 
prayers and preaching. In the evening of that day 
they usually have a display of lighted candles, lanterns, 
torches, etc, 

RAAKNA HOLIDAY BEGINNING OF SEED-TIME. 

The Brahmin astrologers seem not to be able to deter- 
mine long beforeha.nd exactly on what day the sign 
will be the most favorable for the ceremonies of the 
occasion. It usually falls on a day in the former part 
of the sixth month, corresponding to the first half of 
May. 

The Chief Minister of the Rice department is 
regarded as king during the day, because he is the 
King's proxy to hold the plow, break up the ground, 
and sow the first rice of the year. The custom from 
time immemorial has been that the people wherever 
he goes on that day shall honor the King through him 
by shutting u]3 their shops. In case a shop-keeper be 
found exposing his goods for sale, he renders himself 
liable to suffer confiscation of all the property thus 
exposed. Consequently it is generally somewhat diffi- 
cult to make purchases in the market on that day. It 
should be stated that His Majesty, through the Minister 
of Foreign affairs, declared this custom to be null and 
void from the beginning of his reign. But notwith- 
standing that, many of the people regard it as being 
still in power. 



266 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

The Minister is escorted by a public procession to the 
field where the first " breaking of ground " is to take 
place. In the present reign, that place is within the 
citv walls; formerly it was without. A shed having 
been there prepared for the ceremony, the Minister 
enters it, attended by a company of Brahmin priests. 
They then perform a variety of religious acts on 
a pair of oxen, to prepare them for the plow. Thej^ 
are decorated with flowers and fastened to the plow, 
which is likewise adorned. The Minister then holds 
the plow, while the oxen draw it over the field for 
about an hour. Then four elderly females, officers in 
the king's palace, take paddy and sow it over the plat 
plowed, where it is left uncovered. Then various kinds 
of grain most important for the sustenance of the 
people are so exposed that the oxen may eat them 
when liberated for that purpose. Of w^hatever kind 
they eat much, that kind, it is thought, will be scarce 
in the course of the year ; and that of which they eat 
little or none at all will be abundant. 

There is still another way by which they prognosti- 
cate about the next harvest. It is by observing the 
p'anung of the Minister, which is so adjusted that it is 
liable to hitch up too high or sag too low. Now if 
while he is holding the plow, his p'anung sags low down 
near the ankles it is an indication that the rain in the 
course of the year will be scarce, and the water so low 
that it can be waded without pulling up the p'anung 
at all. But, on the other hand, if his p'anung hitch up 
near his knees, it denotes that there will be much rain, 
and the country inundated. Both these conditions are 
looked upon as extremes, and threaten the ruin of the 
rice crop. The p'anung abiding midway between the 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 26T 

ankles and the knees is regarded as the most propitious 
of all conditions. 

k'oW WASa HOLIDAYS. 

July 18th, the 15th of the Siamese 8th waning moon. 
All Buddhists who have much veneration for their 
religion anticipate this season by making special pro- 
vision in behalf of the priests to serve them for a term 
of three months on which they then enter, and during 
which they are deprived of the privilege of traveling 
so far from the temples to which they belong as to 
make it necessary to spend a night away from them. 
For their comfort during this term of confinement, all 
classes set themselves to provide for them parched rice 
and corn, flowers that never fade, both natural and 
artificial, silvered and gilded trees, figures of birds and 
various animals beautifully constructed, and made to 
stand daily before them in their dormitories. On the 
day of the 15th, they are formally presented to them. 
Of these the priests take a part and offer them to the 
idol, and place them in order at his feet to stand there 
for three months. Another part they present to their 
teachers and elders, and aged priests residing in the 
same temple. Having done this, the priests then 
assemble together and pledge themselves to the idol, 
and to one another, that they will not sleep out of their 
dormitories until the expiration of the three months. 

THE SECOND SEMI-ANNUAL OATH OF ALLEGIANCE, t'u' NAM. 

This takes place August 29th, the 13th day of the 10th 
Siamese waning moon. The ceremonies for administer- 
ing and taking the oath are the same as the first time 
on the 24th March. 



.268 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

THE AWK WASA HOLIDAYS 

occur on the 29th and 30th September, and 1st 
October. The 15th waxing of the 11th moon is the 
day when Buddhist customs allow the priests to come 
out of their confinement in the temples and travel as 
far away from home as they please. To provide for 
them suitable clothing during their wanderings, extra- 
ordinary efforts are made by tlie laity, from the highest 
to the lowest, in anticipation of these days. 

The King, especially, takes care to have innumerable 
bales of white cotton shirtings cut up into small pieces, 
and then sewed together into large priest robes to 
imitate apparel made up of patchwork (for Buddhist 
priests in the beginning clothed themselves with rags, 
to show their self-mortification). These robes are after- 
ward died yellow. They are not all, nor the greater 
part, presented to the priests on either of those days. 
A whole month is required to finish the offerings. 
There is on those three days a general devotion to 
works of merit making. 

The King of kSiara has on each evening a public 
exhibition of his own personal offerings made with 
particular reference, it is said, to Buddha's footprint 
near the sea-shore in a distant country unknown, which 
can only be reached by water conveyances. Conse- 
quently the offerings are made on the river. They 
consist of little skiffs and plantain stalk floats; some 
in pagoda form, towering ten or twelve feet ; some 
bearing images of birds and beasts, real and fabulous; 
with other varieties innumerable ; all splendidly 
illuminated with wax candles. These offerings are 
floated off in regular succession, one by one, by the 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 269 

ministration of His Majesty's servants, he himself 
being present in his royal seat on the river. The 
offerings float down with the ebb tide, beautifully 
illuminating the river for several miles before their 
lights burn out. After this, many of the naked floats 
are captured by the people, and each skiff is returned 
by the man who had charge of it. 

This part of the ceremony being finished the King 
then ig'nites a match to the fire- works arranged in 
boats, in the midst of the river, when a new scene 
breaks forth. Fire trees are seen standing in the river; 
and by their powerful sulphurous blaze illuminate 
much of the city. Presently the glory of these departs, 
and then a line of flowering shrubbery made by fire 
appears, and develops their varied flowers, continually 
changing their hue. After this, rockets and squibs 
of great variety are let off from boats. 

The people generally make their own family offer- 
ings, on those three evenings, an hour or two before 
the King comes out of his palace. You may see them 
all over the city, on the rivers and canals near their 
homes. They consist of little arks made of the inner 
layers of the stalk of the scilla maratima, illuminated 
by wax candles, and squibs innumerable flying in the 
open heavens, and frolicking in the water. The prevail- 
ing notion among the common people seems to be 
that these fire-works are offerings to the goddesses 
of the land and water, to expiate for the sin of 
polluting their domains with the excrement and filth 
of man and beast, as they have done, during the twelve 
months which are then about to close. 

All the time onward thence to the first day of the 



270 ' THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

12th waning moon is regarded as being peculiarly 
propitious for making offerings to the priests, and 
worshiping the idol. About the beginning of the 12th 
month the King makes his appearance in his best estate, 
being escorted by vast processions by land and water, 
carrying yellow robes to present to the priests with 
his own hands, at the many temples dedicated to them. 
Fifteen days are almost wholly occupied in this way, 
passing in great pomp from temple to temple. Three 
or four of the temples are usually visited daily. 

Other temples not dedicated to the Kings are in the 
meantime visited by large parties of Buddha's followers, 
who unite together, in processions by water, and carry 
yellow apparel, fruits and other things to their priests 
after the fashion set them by their sovereign. 

About the same time, many parties get together 
evenings, and make a great show of lanterns, gongs, 
and trumpets on the river, in bearing to temples yellow 
garments and fruit, suspended on bushes fixed in their 
boats. Having arrived at their destination, the priests 
come out and pick them off from the bushes, according 
to their several wants. This custom is said to have 
originated in the fact that Buddhist priests in olden 
time lived in the woods, and satisfied their daily wants 
by gathering wild fruit and old cast-off clothing. Such 
self -mortification was highly praised by Buddha. 

THE king's SECOJ^D FIKE-WOEKS. 

October 28th, 29th, and 30th; the 14th and 15th of 
the 12th waxing, and 1st of the waning. On these 
three days the King has extraordinary religious 
services in his palace, and late in the evening of each 
day makes offerings of fire-works publicly on the 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 2Y1 

river, much as on the former occasion, but more com- 
plete and beautiful. This is the better time of the two 
to witness these displays, as the weather is almost sure 
to be fine. His Majesty has made many innovations of 
these customs, and the fire-works are not as interesting 
as they have been wont to be. I have mentioned the 
celebration of the King's birthday elsewhere. 



XXIX. 

CUSTOM OF THE SIAMESE FOE THE DYING 
AND DEAD— CEEMATIONS, ETC. 

The late Dr. D. B. Bradley, one of the early mission- 
aries that went toSiam and who had free entree into the 
palace of King Monkut, wrote a series of articles for 
his calender, and to it I am indebted for much of the 
following account of the ceremonies attending the 
death of a high noble or King, he being in attendance 
when the late King was cremated. 

When a Buddhist prince is found to be at the point 
of death, his or her attendants, wishing to give the 
departing spirit as good a passport into the spirit 
world as it is possible for surviving friends to do, sus- 
pend every other care, and address themselves to the 
one work of fixing the thoughts of the dying man upon 
Buddha. To accomplish this object, they take their 
turns in enunciating as clearly as possible one of the 
names by which it is known the dying man was 
accustomed to speak of his god when in health. P'ra 
Arahang is one of the names of Buddha, and is one 
generally employed among the Siamese Princes when 
they speak of him. It is uttered as often as eight or 
ten times in a minute ; consequently you can hear at 
such times scarcely anything else. They do this 
hoping that the departing spirit will thus be helped to 
think of Buddha, and that that will accumulate a large 
fund of merit to his credit, which will become of vast 
service to him in the spirit world. It is continued 

373 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 273 

from, ten to fifteen minutes after the pulse has stopped 
its beating and the lungs their heaving — even until 
the body is cold and stiff in death. 

When all evidence of hearing is gone, the attending 
friends will raise their voices almost to a stunning 
pitch, hoping that they may force the departing spirit 
to hear the name P'ra Arahang. When the most lov- 
ing friends have ceased to have any lingering hope 
that the dying man can by any means hear them 
longer, then the continuous and deafening sound of 
P'ra Arahang are exchanged for the most uncontrollable 
wailings ; and these are so loud that they can be heard 
at a great distance. Then all the members of the 
family, including the slaves in the house and out of the 
bouse, within hearing, join in a general outburst of 
crying and sobbing, with every evidence that their 
hearts mourn for the departed. 

Dr. Bradley, an eye witness of several such 
scenes in the Koyal palace, states that the most remark- 
able was at the time of the demise of the first Queen 
Consort of King Monkut. The King himself labored 
hard to make the dying Queen hear the dear name 
P'ra Arahang, and when he became weary in his utter- 
ances of it others took it up, and kept the enunci- 
ation of it agoing unbroken for an hour or more. And 
such weeping and wailing he had never before seen, as 
he heard then all about the royal palace. The King 
of Siam did not think that it was beneath his dignity 
to weep on that occasion the most bitter tears. 

When a Prince of high rank has just departed this 
life, the King visits the house of mourning and bathes 
the corpse with simple water, doing it with his own 
hands. After him other Princes, in the order of their 



274 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

rank, step up one by one, and pour a dipper of water 
upon it. Then come the nobles and lords according 
to their rank, and perform each the same kind office 
for the remains of the departed. When all the chief 
princes, nobles and lords present shall have had an 
opportunity to show such respect, certain officials in 
the royal palace concur together in dressing the 
body for a sitting posture. For this purpose they put 
on it a pair of short pantaloons tightly fitted, and a 
jacket also made to fit snugly. Over these they apply 
a winding sheet, wrapping the body in it as firmly as 
possible. Being thus prepared, the corpse is then 
placed in a copper urn in a sitting posture, and then 
this is put into one made of fine gold. The inner urn 
has an iron grating for its bottom, and ihe outer one 
an outlet at the most pendant point, with a stopcock 
from which the fluid parts of the body are daily drawn 
off until it becomes quite dry. 

The King usually remains until the corpse has been 
seated in the urn, and then graces the ceremony of 
placing the golden urn on an elevated platform, 
ascending by three gradations to the height of five 
feet. The conch shell blowers and trumpeters and 
pipers perform their several parts with the greatest 
possible harmony of such instruments, while the urn 
is being elevated to its place. This act is denominated 
Ch'o'np'ra sop k'u'n p'ra t'aan — literally an invitation 
to the corpse to be seated on the platform. 

"When thus seated, all the insignia of royalty which 
the Prince was accustomed to have about him in life 
are brought and arranged in due order at his feet. 
They also place on the platform his more common per- 
sonal utensils, as the golden platter in which he was 



THE PBAEL OF ASIA. 275 

accustomed to have his changes of raiment brought to 
him, his gold betel-box, his cigar case, his golden spit- 
toon, his writing apparatus, etc. The band of musicians 
above named now perform a funeral dirge ; and it is 
arranged to have them assemble daily at early dawn, and 
at noon, and when theday is just merging into night to 
perform in concert with a company of mourning women, 
who bewail the dead and chant his virtues and excel- 
lencies. These spend about half an hour each time in 
these services. In the intervals of these hours, there is 
present a company of Buddhist priests, four at a time, 
sitting on the floor, a little distant from the platform, 
reciting moral lessons and chanting incantations in the 
Pali language in loud, clear and musical intonations, 
in perfect harmony as to matter and tone. 

This service is continued day and night, with only the 
intervals for the performance of the dirges, and the 
wailing of mourning woman as above stated, and a few 
minutes once every hour for one company to retire and 
another of four to come in and talie their places. This 
is kept up from week to week and month to month 
until the time appointed for the burning of the corpse 
has arrived, which may be from two to six, or even 
eight months. The remains of a king are usually kept 
from eight to twelve months. 

On the death of a king, as was the case with his late 
Majesty, his successor to the throne immediately begins 
to make arrangements for the erection of theP'ramene, 
which is the splendid temporary building, under which 
the body is to sit in state several days on a throne glit- 
tering with silver, gold and diamonds, and then and 
there to be committed to the flames. 

The building is intended to be in size and o-randeur 



276 THE PEA.EL OF ASIA. 

according to the estirnation in which the deceased was 
held. Royal orders are forthwith sent to the gov- 
ernors of the four different provinces far away to the 
north, in which large timber abounds, requiring each of 
these to furnish one of the four laro^e loo^s for the center 
pillars of the P'ramene. These must be of the finest 
timber, very straight, from two hundred to two hundred 
and fifty feet long, and proportionately large in circum- 
ference, not leas than twelve feet. There are always 
twelve pillars, a little smaller in size, demanded at the 
same time from governors of other pro vinces, as also much 
other timber needful in the erection of the P'rSmene 
and the numerous other buildings connected with it. 
As sacred custom will not tolerate the use of pillars 
that have been used on any former occasion, conse- 
quently new ones must be obtained for every new 
occasion of the funeral obsequies of a king. Those four 
large pillars are very difficult to find, and can be floated 
down to the capital only at seasons of the year when 
the rivers, where they are found, are full. 

They are hauled to the banks of the stream by ele- 
phants and buffaloes. The great difficulty of procuring 
these pillars is one main cause of the usual long delay 
of the funeral burning for a kmg. When brought to 
the city, they are hauled up to the place of the P'ramene 
chiefly by the muscular power of men working by 
means of a rude windlass and rollers under the logs. 
They are then hewed and planed a little, just enough to 
remove all crooks and other deformities, and finished 
off in a cylindrical form. 

Then they are planted in the ground thirty feet 
deep, one at each corner of a square not less than one 
hundred and sixty feet in circumference. When in 



THE TEARL OF ASIA, 277 

their proper places, they stand leaning a little towards 
each other, so that they describe the form of a four- 
sided truncated pyramid, from one hundred and seventy 
to two hundred feet high. On the top of these is framed 
a pagoda-form spire, adding from fifty to sixty more 
feet to the height of the structure. This upper part is 
octagonal, and so covered with gilded and tinseled 
paper as to make a grand appearance at such a height; 
but it would not well bear inspection at a close view. 

At each of the four corners of tliis pyramid they 
erect by means of the twelve smaller posts mentioned 
above a wing extending out from the main pillars about 
forty feet. Each of these has also a pagoda-form spire 
of the same general form and appearance as the center 
one, but not as tall by thirty or forty feet. The large 
as well as the smaller pillars are handsomely papered, 
as are also all the halls of which they form the bound- 
ary. Between each of these corner buildings is a splendid 
porch looking to each cardinal point of the compass. 

Surrounding the P'ramene there is a new fence made 
of bamboo slats in an upright position, ten feet high, 
the paling being so closely set that you can not see 
through it. It encloses a large square of ground, and 
has only one gate midway on each side. In close con- 
tiguity with this fence on the inside are numberless 
and indescribable buildings mostly made of bamboo, 
fantastically papered and painted, for the accommoda- 
tion of priests, princes, noblemen and others. One 
side of the square is chiefl.}^ occupied with buildings for 
the King's own accommodation while attending the 
ceremonies of the royal cremation. These are dis- 
tinguished from all others by having their roofs covered 
with crimson cloth, and by the peculiar curved horn- 



278 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

like projections at the two ends of their ridges, and the 
golden drapery suspended in front and tastefully gath- 
ered up to the several posts of the halls. The whole area 
occupied by houses and other fixtures is curiously and 
neatly covered with bamboo wicker work; the slats of 
which the woof and warp are made beingabout an inch 
wide, forming thus one unbroken bamboo carpet, giv- 
ing great elasticity and squeaking to the steps of all 
who walk upon it. There are placed here and there 
upon this bamboo floor multitudes of standards pecu- 
liar to the Siamese. Some are like the Sawe-krachat, 
one of the insignia of royalty, or, in other words, the 
royal umbrella of nine stories, several inches apart, 
connected by one common staff. These stories become 
smaller as you ascend ; the uppermost one being less 
than a foot in diameter, and the one at the bottom four 
feet or more. Some of these are seven stories, and some 
only five. There are several other indescribable stand- 
ards and fixtures thickly studding the floor, some of 
them tinseled, some of them gilded, some with machin- 
ery exhibiting a variety of little paper figures in 
perpetual action, some imaginary angels, some devils, 
and some suffering souls in hell. Here and there you 
will see a niche with rude landscape views of the lower 
series of the Buddhist's celestial worlds, and of princely 
dwellings there, with delightful pools and groves, and 
many other sensual luxuries, which the mind fancies a 
heaven of happiness must give its inhabitants. 

Outside of the bamboo walls are various buildings 
designed for the accommodation of prmces, officers of 
government, and others who can not find sufficient 
room within the enclosure. There are also numerous 
play-houses for theatrical performances, puppet shows. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 2Y9 

masquerades, turning- summersaults on rods highly ele- 
vated, wire dancing, leaping through hoops from aloft, 
lying on the points of spears, sword and cudgel sham 
fighting, wrestling, etc. 

There is also one other place outside of the P'ramene 
gates more interesting to many than those already 
alluded to : and this is the great victualing establish- 
ment for all classes above the peons, presenting a large 
variety of dishes and fruits, well prepared, and very 
tempting to the appetite, all freely offered without 
money and without price, at all hours of the day. 

If there be a second king, he has a temporary palace 
erected for his accommodation out of the enclosure, on 
the north side, which is distinguished from all other 
buildings by a crimson-colored roof, royal horns, and 
golden drapery like that of the first king. 

The real P'ramene is erected in the center of the 
whole, in the great hall directly under the loftiest 
spire. This is a most splendid eight-sided pyramid, 
fifty or sixty feet in circumference, its base sitting on a 
floor twenty feet above the ground. It diminishes by 
right-angle gradations upward some thirty feet to a 
truncated top, and on its top is placed the golden urn, 
containing the remains, most superbly decorated with 
gold and diamonds and other precious stones. Some 
ten or fifteen feet above this is suspended from the 
lofty ceiling a rich golden canopy. And far up above 
that is a tasty white circular awning overshadowing 
the whole. Immediately under the golden canopy 
hang the sweetest and whitest flowers, arranged in the 
form of a large chandelier. 

The body of the pyramid is made indescribably 
brilliant by the tasty arrangement on its several 



280 THE PEAEL OP ASIA. 

steps of the most showj' articles of porcelain, glass, ala- 
baster, silver and gold artificial flowers, and artificial 
fruits intermixed with real fruits ; little images of birds 
and beasts, of men, women, children, angels, etc. For 
illuminating the hall, splendid chandeliers are sus- 
pended from the ceiling in the four corners of it, being 
assisted by innumerable lesser lights on the angular 
gradations of the pyramid. 

At the time appointed for placing the royal remains 
in state on the lofty throne, nearly all the princes, 
chief nobles, and rulers in the kingdom assemble at the 
royal palace just after break of day, to escort "the 
sacred corpse " to its last earthly throne on the summit 
of the new P'ramene. The golden urn, already most 
brilliantly decked with diamonds, is placed upon a high 
golden seat in a kind of Juggernaut car, drawn by a 
pair of horses, assisted by hundreds of men. This 
vehicle is preceded by two other wheel carriages. The 
first is occupied solely by the high priest of the king- 
dom, sitting on a high seat, reading a sacred book of 
moral lessons in Pali, called app'it'am. The second 
carriage is occupied by a few of the most favored of 
the children of the deceased. A strip of silver cloth 
six inches wide is attached to the urn, and loosely 
extended to the seats of the ro3^al highnesses in the 
second carriage, and to the thighs of the high priest, 
over which the other end lies, while the procession is 
moving. This forms the mystical union between the 
deceased and the sacred book and his children. The 
carriage next behind the one bearing the royal urn 
carries some fifty or sixty sticks of imported fragrant 
wood, richl}'- gilded at the ends, with which the body 
is to be burned. Each of these carriages is drawn by 



Tl.E. PEAEL OF ASIA. 281 

a pair of horses, with scores of men to assist, all pull- 
ing at a rope in front of the animals. 

Both in tlieir front and rear are figures of elephants, 
rhinoceroses, lions, tigers and fabulous animals of 
many kinds, utterly defying description. These are all 
made of bamboo wicker work, covered with paper, and 
painted tosuittlie prurient fancies of Buddhists. These 
all go in pairs, and are all drawn on small wooden 
wheels. Each of the figured animals have on their 
backs a large receptacle for priests' robes, which are 
well filled with this article, neatly folded, ready for 
offering. In front of these and in. their rear are hun- 
dreds of men dressed in white, purporting to be angels, 
wearing white turbans with pagoda-form spires or 
crowns eight or ten inches tall. These walk four 
abreast, and carry glass imitation lotus flowers. 

The moment the procession begins to move, the 
shells, trumpets and pipes are sounded, and the death 
drums are beaten with a slowly measured stroke, until 
the royal hearse reaches tlie P'ramene. Having arrived, 
the golden urn is removed from the hearse, and placed 
upon a kind of railroad bridge fifty or sixty feet long, 
one end of it resting on the ground, and the other on 
the top of the P'ramene, at an angle of fort}^ degrees 
or more. On this, the urn is drawn up slowly by ropes 
and pullies with much ceremony and placed on the 
splendid throne, to remain in state at least fifteen days 
before the burning. 

Having placed the royal urn on the top of the P'ra- 
bencha, or P'ramene pyramid, they then take the strip 
of silver cloth, which had been the mystic communica- 
tion between the deceased and his children and the sacred 
book while in the procession, and extend it from the lid 



282 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

of the golden urn down the eastern and western sides 
of the pyramid, and thence on a Brussels carpet, pro- 
tected by white muslin, nearlj^ to the flight of steps on 
the east and west sides of the building. It is about 
noon when this is completed. 

Then the chief priests of the city and from nearly 
all other parts of the kingdom begin to assemble, a hun- 
dred or more at a time, on the fl^oor of the P'ramene, 
in sight of the royal urn, and rehearse in concert lessons 
in Pali, called P'ang-s66-k'oon, which are in substance 
" reflections on the brevity and uncertainty of human 
life, the certainty of death and transmigration, the 
sorrows inseparably connected with every state of 
mutability, and the blessings of Nipp'an, where there 
can be no more change,'^ Having uttered audibly 
these short lessons, they continue in a sitting posture 
with downcast looks a few minutes, reflecting silently 
on the condition of the living and the dead, and then 
retire, giving place to another hundred or more, to 
recite the same lessons, and to exercise their moral 
natures with similar reflections. Thus they come and 
retire, until thousands of the chief priests and others 
of lower rank have had the privilege and honor to en- 
gage in this exercise, and this is repeated every day the 
corpse sits in state, and three daj^s afterwards. 

All the princes and nobles, and officers of govern- 
ment taking a part in the funeral solemnities are 
dressed in white, as are also the royal servants, and 
most of the servants and slaves of the princes and 
nobles. Every Siamese subject, whether prince or 
noble, governor or plebeian, men and women, rich and 
poor, bond and free, must then out of respect to the 
deceased have his head entirely shaven^ thus showing 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 283' 

to all his neighbors that he is truly in. mourning for the 
dead. This differs from the European custom of 
jputting on mourning, in that it requires i\\Q j>uUing off 
the natural and pleasant clothing of the head, and 
putting on entire baldness and desolation, and the 
putting off all their usual dress of figured apparel, and 
putting on the plainest white muslin, which they regard 
as being entirely devoid of show, and therefore a fi.t 
emblem of sadness of spirit. 

It is arranged that there shall be four common priests 
rehearsing Pali, every hour of the day and night, as 
when before the corpse was brought to the P'ramene, 
and for this purpose the four corners of the P'ramene 
hall are reserved for four companies of four each, to sit 
dow^n and perform this service ; but only one company 
at a time, continuing the exercise nearly an hour. Then 
the next four in order take their turn for the same 
length of time, and so on for twentj^-four hours , at 
the expiration of which another band of sixteen, 
divided into four companies, come and take their places 
and serve in the same way twenty -four hours ; and then 
these are relieved by another band of sixteen, and so 
on day and night. ISTo company who have served 
twenty-four hours are called to that service again. 
These services are continued from fifteen to nineteen 
days ; that is, until the protracted meeting breaks up. 

These priests, together with the multitudes of other 
priests, are sumptuously fed from the royal bounty early 
every morning and again between eleven and twelve 
o'clock A. M. Extraordinary attention is paid to the 
priests by all parties, from the King down to the slaves, 
as that is accounted the most ready way to obtain 
great profits in merit making. The King himself spends 



284 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

a large portion of each day of the ceremonies in dis- 
tributing to the priests yellow robes, which he has 
caused to be prepared for them at tlie expense of his 
private purse. To every chief priest he gives a com- 
plete suit of clerical apparel, and to every other priest 
presents some important part of a suit, if not the whole. 

If the King be necessarily absent, he deputizes his 
eldest son to distribute in his stead. Besides the yellow 
robes, the King has also in readiness vast provision of 
bedsteads fully furnished with mosquito bars, mat- 
tresses, pillows, towels, spittoons, betel boxes, cigar 
cases, rice kettles, lacquered trays and other dishes for 
collecting rice, lamps, candles, sampans, and boats with 
little houses on them, and other articles which the 
priests need in their daily calling. These things he dis- 
tributes to them every day. 

Twice every day, morning and evening, the King 
invites one of the chief priests to preach to him and 
the princes, nobles and others. The exercise is simply 
to read from Pali sacred book some of the lessons of 
Buddha. The priest does this sitting cross-legged in 
a large chair, in the hall of the P'ramene, or in the 
audience hall of the King's temporary abode on the 
premises, while all his hearers sit bowed forward on 
their elbows, with the palms of their hands met before 
their faces, most reverently looking at the reader whose 
Pali not one in a hundred of them understands at all. 

Sometimes the princes and nobles, in their desire to 
make as much of the occasion as possible to add to 
their stock of merit, arrange to have preaching in other 
places about the P'ramene, on their own responsibility, 
and embrace the opportunity to make liberal presents 
to the preacher and other priests after the exercises. 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 285 

At early candle lighting, the P'ramene is most brill- 
iantly illuminated within and without by electric lights, 
and wax candles, andcocoanut oil. Then sundry plays 
are initiated; theNang cheen, the N'ang k'aak, and the 
^angt'ai — that is, leather theatrical figures moved 
about by the hands of men behind a thin white muslin 
screen lighted from behind by a blazing fire ; and these 
are of Chinese, Malay and Siamese dramas. In another 
place before the royal hall you will see the figure of 
a huge fabulous animal, animated by a boy within him, 
walking hither and thither to catch what appears to 
be a large globe of fire, continually eluding the jaws of 
the monster, and sometimes almost swallowed by him. 
Also, the lantern dance, in which about fifty perform- 
ers take part, each carrying a lantern. 

About eight or nine o'clock in the evening, the fire, 
works come off, being occasionally ignited by the King 
himself. You first hear the crackling of the matches, 
then you see the sulphuric fire and smoke running up 
tall bamboo poles, and extending out into branches. 
Presently you see a dozen tall trees of fire, throwing 
an intense light over all the premises. These quickly 
burn out, and another flash brings into view beautiful 
fire shrubbery. In a minute or two they blossom roses, 
dahlias, oleanders, and other flowers of all hues, and 
the most beautiful, continually changing their color, 
like a chameleon, until they all fade out into darkness. 
Presently you are startled by the report of rockets 
sent up from various places in rapid succession, being- 
altogether a hundred or more, showing clearly that the 
Siamese are not far behind the times in this art. Immedi- 
ately after this, you will hear a terrible roaring like 
the bellowing of a dozen elephants, with an occasional 



286 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

crasli like the bursting of a small engine boiler. They 
are fireworks called Ch'ang rawng, which means '' bel- 
lowing elephants." This unearthly noise and confus- 
ion is kept up from ten to fifteen minutes, when 
suddenly you will hear innumerable fire-birds chirp- 
ing, quacking, buzzing, and see them hopping in all 
directions. Some of them ascend high up in the air, 
and burst with a small sputtering report. Here and 
there on the top of a small staff are a kind of whirligig 
propelled by weak gun-powder ; some revolving slow^ly, 
exhibiting puppit figures; some w^hirling rapidly, turning 
out sliowers of sulphurous scintillations. Having in 
about fifteen minutes, had enough of these things, they 
are exchanged for mimic volcanic eruptions, which, 
though on a small scale, are attended with great roaring 
and forcible jets of ignited sulphur and iron, ascend- 
ing like water spouts, and falling in golden showers. 
It is well, that only one crater is in action at a time, 
and that not exceeding a minute in duration ; beginning 
with a low rumbling noise, and increasing in power, 
until' it suddenly exhausts itself by a terrible belch of 
fire. Then the man in charge places another artificial 
crater into the same place, which almost instantly 
ignites, and acts just as its antecedent did. So they 
keep them going until fifty or more have been fired. 
These plays and sports continue till about midnight, 
when the King leaves his temporary abode and retires 
to his home in the royal palace. This is received as a 
license for all others to retire who wish to do so ; and 
accordingly the most go to their several abodes. But 
the priests, whose turn it is to watch and rehearse the 
Pali lessons all hours of the day and night, remain, as 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 287 

do also the keepers of the premises, numbering many 
hundreds. 

There is one other performance usually more excit- 
ing than all the rest, and belongs to the latter part of 
the afternoon of every day of the funeral ceremonies. 
It is the scattering of money broadcast among the 
many thousands that have assembled there for the 
sport. The King takes personally a very lively part in 
it, though he has his own select company to favor by 
it, who are princes, nobles, officers of government, and,' 
European and American officials. The pieces of 
money used for the purpose are seven-and-a-half cent; 
pieces of silver, and sixty cent pieces of gold, and some- 1_ 
times gold rings. These are usually imbedded in little 
green limes, or small balls of wood of the same shape 
and size. The object of this is to prevent them from 
getting lost among the crowd. His Majesty standing 
in his temporary palace door, having bushelg of limes 
at his feet, charged each with one piece of money, takes 
up a handful at a time, and throws them out among 
the large select audience before him, often so skillfully 
guiding his hand as that some peculiar favorite shall 
have the best chance in the game — some corpulent 
prince or minister whom he wishes to set into ludicrous 
motion by his efforts to catch the flying prize. 

The money thrown to the common people is also put 
into limes and paper balls, and thrown by persons 
appointed by the King to do it in his name. The coins 
are first arranged like apples thickly set on eight trees, 
or what purport to be trees, standing on so many 
small mounds, here and there on the premises outside 
of the P'rSmene enclosure. These trees are called ton 
kappap'ruk, or ton karea p'ruk— literally trees that 



288 THE PEARL OF ASIA.. 

gratify the desires of man. They are intended to rep- 
resent the four trees that are to be found one in each 
of the four corners of the city, in which the next Bud- 
dha is to be born ; which will bear, not only money, but 
every thing else that man shall need for his comfort 
under his reign. 

Each artificial tree is thought to have hanging upon 
it about one hundred ticals worth of money in silver 
and gold ; and four men ascend each mound to pluck 
the fruit by handfuls, and cast them to the crowd of 
men who stand as compacted as it would seem possible 
for them to live. Every throw is instantly followed 
by a universal shout from the multitude, and a rush 
for the prize. And then they surge hither and thither 
like a forest swayed by a mighty wind. Thousands 
engage in this kind of sport. It ta-kes but about fifteen 
minutes to pluck all the fruit from those trees, and then 
the game is over. It is a rare thing for a man to catch 
more than two or three limes. 

There is still another mode of dispensing the royal 
gifts on such occasions. And that is, to divide them 
into lots with a slip of palm leaf attached to each lot, 
and a copy of each on another slip, which, being rolled 
up, and put into a paper ball or lime, is thrown out 
by the King to his favored audience. He sometiines 
adopts a similar mode in dispensing his favors to com- 
panies of the chief priests. But on arranging lots for 
the priests, he will take care of course that only such 
things as are suitable to them as priests shall be put 
into the lots, and usually the most costly articles are 
arranged for them, suits of yellow robes, bedsteads, 
sampans, and boats with covers. Lots designed for the 
laity comprise silver and gold pieces of money, finger 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 280 

rings of pinch-beck and gold; small silver and gold 
artificial shrubbery, some of which have on them the 
various silver and gold coins of the country; fans, nap- 
kins, wash bowls, goblets, etc. 

The forenoon of every day is occupied by the laity, 
comprising princes, lords, masters and servants, in wait- 
ing upon the multitude of the priests at their breakfast 
and dinner; and helping them to betel, cigars and tea, 
too-ether with nameless and innumerable little atten- 
tions ; and in the meantime taking good care to feed 
themselves bountifully, as it were, from the second 
tables. The afternoons are spent in serving the priests 
to their tea, betel and cigars, conversing with them, 
hearing their preaching, looking at theatrical perform- 
ances, sham fighting, boxing, wire dancing, somersault 
adventures, catching the King's gratuitous lottery 
tickets, and scrambling for the flying money. Every 
day appears to be a perfect copy of the one preceding 
it, until the afternoon of the burning. 

Then the golden urn containing the corpse is removed 
from the top of the pyramid and the copper urn 
taken out of the golden one. This has an iron grating 
at the bottom overlaid with spices and fragrant pow- 
ders. All the precious articles with which the pyramid 
was decorated are temporarily removed from it, and 
some eight or ten feet of the upper part of it is taken 
down to form a place of suitable dimensions for the 
burning. Then the fragrant wood is laid in order in 
cross layers on the platform, having a bellows attached 
to the pile. Precious spices and fragrant articles, many 
in kind, are put among the wood. A gunpowder match 
is laid from a certain part of the hall set apart for the 



290 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

seat of the King, reaching to a spot made particularly 
combustible in the pile of wood. 

These changes are made with surprising rapidity. 
All being ready, the King takes electrical fire, which 
had been preserved for such purposes for a long time,* 
and touches it to the end of the match at his feet. 
This kindles a flame in the midst of the wood. Imme- 
diately the next in rank among the princes steps up 
and lays his large wax candle, lighted from a lamp 
burning with the same lightning fire, and lays it among 
the wood, or on the top of it, as it may seem to him the 
most convenient. After him the next prince in the 
order of rank does the same, and so on in that order, 
until most of the chief princes and princesses have 
shown the same sympathy. Then the nobles and lords 
out of the royal family bring each in quick succession 
his wax candle, being first lighted by the electrical 
fire, and lays it on among the wood. At first the 
order is according to rank, but this is soon lost in the 
hurry of the many w^ho wish to contribute their can- 
dles .before it shall be too late. There are many hun- 
dreds of wax candles, great and small, laid on the wood 
and cast into the flames ere the burning has advanced 
too far to admit of any more. To prevent the flames 
from becoming too intense for the purpose intended, 
and too great for the safety of the P'ramene and its 
appendages, there are several strong men armed wath 
long handled dippers, dashing on water wherever and 

* Iq the reign of P'ooti Yawt Fa, graadfatber of his present 
Majesty, the royal audience hall was destroyed by lightning. It is 
commonly believed that fire taken from that conflagration has been 
kept constantly burning in the palace, and is used only on occasions 
like the above. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 291 

whenever it is required ; and there are others armed 
with iron pokers, whose business it is to stir the fire 
occasionally. 

The moment the pile of wood is fired, the usual 
funeral band strike up their dirge, and the company of 
mourning women set up their wailing. But this is con- 
tinued only a few minutes. The time occupied in the 
burning is not more than one hour. The fire is extin- 
guished a little before all the bones have been reduced 
to ashes. A few of the remaining parts of the bones 
are carefully collected and deposited iu a neat and very 
precious little golden urn. By the time this is done 
the sun has set and the P'ramene is consequently left 
in a despoiled state until next morning. JSTevertheless 
the hall is lighted, and all the usual exercises go on 
through the night as before. Early next morning, the 
P'ramene pyramid is restored to its original splendor, 
and the little golden urn of precious bones is placed on 
its summit ; and all the ashes left by the burning are 
put up in clean white muslin, and laid in a golden 
platter. They are then ceremoniously carried in state 
to the royal landing, and escorted by a procession of 
state barges, attended by the funeral band ; and being- 
carried down the river about a mile, are there com- 
mitted to its waters. 

The funeral obsequies of a king are continued three 
days after the burning, and the ceremonies are almost 
precisely the same as those in anticipation of it, until 
the last day. On that day a royal procession is formed 
somewhat like that of the first day, to bear the.charred 
remains in the little golden urn to a sacred depository 
of such relics of the kings of Siam within the royal 
palace. 



292 THE PBAKL OF ASIA. 

"Very soon after this, the servants of the King proceed 
to gather up all the articles which it is customary to 
preserve for future funeral occasions, the permanent 
silver and gold stands, the golden canopy, the orna- 
ments of the pyramid, etc. But the timber of which 
the P'ramene and its appendages are made is taken 
down and converted to other uses. 

It sometimes so happens that there are at the time of 
a burning for a king one or two more bodies of de- 
ceased princes of high rank awaiting an opportunity 
to be turned quickly to dust by fire. These are brought 
and burned under the same P'ramene ; but it is first 
shorn of ius kingly glory. In such cases they will be 
placed in state from three to seven days, and then 
burned with essentially the same ceremonies as obtained 
for the body of the King. If there be two or more 
bodies to be burned, they will be placed in state on the 
same pyramid, in separate urns, and burned at the 
same time, separately on the same platform. 

When a P'rilmene is built expressly for the burning 
of a prince next in rank to a king, the style of the 
buildings is much the same as those for a king, but 
much less imposing and expensive in money and time. 
Buildings erected for the funeral ceremonies of a noble- 
man of the first rank will in general style be the same 
as for a prince of the first rank, and but little inferior 
in the outlay of money and general appearance. The 
King usually attends the funeral obsequies of all the 
princes and chief officers of government who die in his 
reign. . He has temporary rooms prepared for him at 
the place of burning, and always ignites the wood by a 
match of electrical fire, which act is denominated 
T'awaip'rap'long. 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 293 

The grand object on all such funeral occasions is to 
feast the priests, listen to their Pali rehearsals and 
chantings, and make offerings to them. 

The common people generally think that such 
honors besto\ved on the priesthood, and through them 
upon Buddha, will surely accrue to the good both of 
those who bestow them and the departed spirit of the 
deceased whose funeral obsequies they celebrate. But 
the more intelligent of the new school party of Bud- 
dhists deny that any good thereby comes to the 
deceased, if his spirit shall have gone beyond the boun- 
dary of this world ; to an}'- one of the sixteen great hells 
or to any of their appendages. But if the spirit 
become a prate, or yak, or raska (which are the evil 
spirits of men roving about among men, and often come 
near to their surviving relatives, and witness the 
respect paid to them in the spirit world) they too will 
obtain great benefit by the respect paid to Buddha and 
his priests at their funerals. Their sufferings will be 
mitigated, and the term of their banishment shortened. 
All new school Buddhists affirm that the grand motive 
for these immensely expensive funeral services is sim- 
ply to follow old and revered customs, of which nobody 
knows the origin, but which have become sacred b}" 
their great antiquity ; and also to show to all about 
them that the friends of the deceased are not cold and 
niggardly in their regard for him; but contrariwise, 
most affectionate, noble and munificent. 

People of but ordinary rank, in their funerals, follow 
essentially the customs of those above them. But for 
the want of money, they are obliged to burn their 
dead in P'ramenes of comparatively little show; still 



294 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

they have the form and fashion of the rich in an humble 
style. 

To save the expense of erecting a P'raraene, they 
often employ a permanent one, built in connection with 
some of the larger temples : and by erecting a few 
sheds get along very well with all the ceremonies by 
the aid of the zayat, and other places on the premises. 
This class of people always have numbers of the priests 
to recite Pali lessons, preach, and receive their offerings 
of yellow robes, etc. They also have fire-works in the 
evening of one or two days. Their ceremonies usually 
terminate on the third day. The bodies of their dead 
are kept but a few da3's. Sometimes they do it by 
putting them in a tight coffin, filled in with lime and 
sawdust, and sometimes by burying them until they 
can have time to attend properly to their burning. 

But the dead of the very indigent classes are carried 
by four men, on the very day of their death, together 
with the cushion or mat they died upon, to some temple, 
and burned on a small pile of wood, which they bring 
with them, or purchase on the spot. Sometimes they 
do it themselves, and sometimes employ a sexton called 
Sapparo, by parang him sixty cents for the cost of wood, 
the same sum for his trouble of burning the body. 

It is almost a universal custom to bury all who die 
of small-pox, cholera, childbirth, accident, suicide, 
murder, fighting, etc., for a month or two, and then 
disinter and burn their bodies. The reason given for 
burying them first is the fear they have of a supersti- 
tion that when their bodies are quickly burned their 
spirits will come and haunt their friends, and cause 
them to die some unnatural and speedy death ; as they 
will be likely then to be very irritable and pugnacious, 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 295 

but will naturally get over that in a month or two, so 
that there will be no more danger in burning their 
bodies. 

Some classes of criminals when executed are sub- 
jected also to the horrid treatment of having their 
bodies cast out in a desolate place, and left for the dogs 
and vultures to devour. 



XXX. 

PRACTICE OF MEDICINE— NATIYE DOCTORS. 

The Siamese formerly believed that the human 
system is composed of four elements : water, wind, fire 
and earth; that disease is simply a disarrangement of 
these elements; hence if fire from without, the heat of 
the sun, for instance, enters the body in undue pro- 
portion fevers, small-pox, etc., necessarily follows. 
Each element is claimed by the physicians to have its 
regular seasons, similar to climatic changes. In the 
native books that they read they are told that during 
such a month that wind is prone to prevail and beget 
disease, another month fire. Appoplexy, they saj^, is 
caused by an internal wind blowing upon the heart 
with such strength as to rupture it. The theory of the 
native doctors is that all diseases are produced from an 
excess or diminution of one or more of the four 
elements. Wind, lom in Siamese, seems to be the 
leading element, and in nineteen cases out of twenty 
a sick person, when questioned, will reply as to what 
ails him, "pen lom," it is wind. They believe that it 
enters the system by inhalation and proceeds to the 
head as wind enters into a bellows; without it the 
blood would not flow, perspiration cease, bile stagnate, 
bowels inactive and the waste gates of the system 
remain closed. It is supposed that there are two 
divisions of wind, above and below the diaphragm. 
Rheumatism, epilepsy, etc., are caused by the wind 
blowing upward ; colic, pains in the loins, legs, etc., by 

' 296 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 297 

its blowing downward. It is seldom that a aisease 
runs its course without all of the elements being called 
into play, w^ater especially, as in cases of dropsy, which 
is caused by the fire not having sufficient force to dry 
up the water, as the sun does the mists and fog, and 
they think that fever and cholera are caused by the 
invisible mists and vapors that exhale from the ground, 
miasma. They also believe that spirits, good and 
evil, produce a multitude of human ills, and the people 
are in continual dread of them, conscious of the 
demerit that has accrued to them since the beffinninff of 
their existence, hence they perform many acts in the 
way of propitiating them. They have an idea that 
medicines have the power to counteract the element 
deranged and thus restore the body to health. The 
origin of medicine is claimed to be miraculous and they 
have nostrums for each and every ailment; for instance, 
a remedy for the head would be very different from 
that for the bowels. A snuff, a plaster to the temples 
or a wash for the eyes may calm the wind in the head, 
while something entirely different, taken internally, 
will dissipate the storm in that region upward or 
downward, or through the pores of the skin; wind may 
also be withdrawn by cuping, poulticing, etc., in fact 
that health may be restored by medicines which have 
the power to drive the surplus elements out of the 
system or to parts of the system that need it. 
Giddiness they attribute to a deficiency of wind blow- 
ing upward, hence a vacuum in the brain; their mode of 
treatment is to make the patient eat his fill and then 
go to sleep. For small-pox and cutaneous eruptions, 
they use a variety of medicated effusions of a cooling 
nature. If the disease is from the effects of too much 



298 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

water they will use drastic cathartics, if from a pre- 
dominance of solids of the earth they will try to 
render the system more plastic by the use of fluids. 

Their medicines are chiefly derived from the vege- 
table kingdom mainly indigenous to the country, but 
a small portion is imported from China by the Chinese 
doctors. Sometimes they employ articles that belong 
to the animal kingdom, such as tiger and other bones, 
teeth, sea-shells, fish and snake skins, urine, eyes of 
birds, cats and cattle, snake's bile and other such stuff; 
also saltpeter, borax, blue-stone, lead, antimony, salts, 
mercury, etc.; they also use aloes and gamboge, and 
of late years quinine has become very popular with 
them as a tonic. In Bangkok modern medicines are 
extensively used, especially pills. In the interior the 
old method still prevails and the native practitioner 
doses the unfortunate, who may be in his power, with 
the vilest of decoctions, as there is not a weed or shrub 
that grows that they do not put to some use. An 
American physician, who was conversant with their 
practice, assured me that in one of their prescriptions 
they had one hundred and seventy-five ingredients, to 
be taken in three doses, and they are sure enough 
doses, as the common way of paying a doctor is by the 
potful thirty to sixty cents per pot, each holding 
from two quarts to one gallon, and a dose is as much 
as a man can swallow at one time, frequently a quart. 
They also make pills, some of them of huge dimension, 
so large that they have to be cut up and' softened in a 
cocoanut shell of water, then taken in a fluid state. 
Fifty years ago tonics were unknown until introduced 
by the western physicians, the native doctors account- 
ing it a sin to use a drop of ardent spirits; but this 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 299 

dread has given away before the practice of drinking 
introduced by the Europeans, and now many of the 
Siamese partake of strong drink not only as a medicine, 
but as a stimulant. 

The native doctors, as a general thing, are self- 
taught, but now the King has made arrangements to 
have a large class taught at Wang Lang hospital, 
where several eminent physicians lecture and take 
charge of the classes. Hitherto when a man was 
desirous of becoming a doctor he read one or two 
books or manuscripts on a special subject and practiced 
in accordance with what he had read. Sometimes he 
will read a number of books and manuscripts, and wit- 
ness the practice of an older doctor and then in a year or 
so branch out as a full-fledged doctor. They make one 
or two diseases a specialty, none of them attempt to 
become a general practitioner of medicine. They 
know but little in regard to surgery and will send for 
miles to secure the services of a foreign physician. 
Doctors stand high in the estimation of the people ; 
they look to them as their natural protectors, not only 
against the effects of disease, but the spells th,at the 
spirits may cast over them, and when a doctor fails of 
a cure he always attributes it to the spell of a witch 
or a spirit beyond the power of human skill to avoid, 
and thus retains the confidence of his dupes. The 
King always has a number of native physicians in his 
employ who live in or near the palace. He also has 
two regular physicians, Drs. Gowan and Hayes, the 
latter an American of the modern school, and he is 
doing much towards advancing the young men in the 
hospitals in the study of medicine and surgerj^, intro- 
ducing all of the latest works and medicines. The 



300 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

princes and nobles now call in a foreign physician 
when they are needed , and several physicians are 
doing an extensive business in Bangkok and vicinity. 
Thus, in the march of progress they have learned to 
ignore the old custom of employing none but native 
doctors, since they have witnessed the remarkable 
cures effected and skillful operations performed by 
the American and other physicians. The Siamese are 
very generous to their physicians and frequently after 
the patient is convalescent he will send presents to 
him, the most beautiful and fragrant flowers, in the 
form of chandeliers and baskets, to be suspended in 
his room. 

The fee for a " job of healing " is never less than 
eight or more than twenty ticals, but aside from this 
the law allows a special fee of three and a half ticals 
called k'wan kow-k'aya. This is divided into two 
parts, k'wan kow consists of a proffer of a tical and a 
half in silver, which is stuck on the bottom of a 
wax candle, then the candle is stood upright in a brass 
basin or some other utensil ; a little rice, salt, pepper, 
onions, bananas, etc., is added and an incantory form 
recited over it by the doctor, an offering to propitiate the 
spirit of the great medical teacher Komara-P'at, who 
lived during the days of Buddha, beseeching him to 
exert his influence in the spirit world over the diseases 
of men. ISTo doctor will ever undertake a case if 
this rite is overlooked. The kaya is two ticals, for the 
cost of the medicine, be the same little or much, but 
he can't claim it until the patient is restored to health. 
They also have another rite, an appeal to the spirits 
in behalf of the patient, which they do by moulding 
little clay images of men, women, cattle, or some other 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 301 

symbol of animated nature, which they place on a 
small float or stand made of banana leaf on which he 
puts the statuets together with some rice, salt, pepper, 
betel, ceri leaf etc., lighting it with a small taper and 
then carries it into the street or commons or sets it 
afloat on the river or canal, leaving it to care for itself. 
This is done in the hope that the offering may be 
acceptable to the spirits and that they will dispel 
the storm that is beating on the sick one. This is 
called krabon, and if successful the doctor receives a 
tical and a half. The native doctor has nothing to 
distinguish him from the common run except a box 
that he carries under his arm holding about a half 
bushel of pills, powders and other nostrums. 

One mode of treating fevers is by water, medicated 
drinks and frequent bathing in tepid water, ablutions 
and fomentations. A common mode is showering the 
patient, the attendant nurse or a priest blowing the 
water from his mouth, which falls gently and agree- 
ably upon the sick one like a warm spray. Some of 
the Siamese remedies are valuable, while others are 
ridiculous ; for instance, the following for '• morbific 
fever," as given by Bishop Pallegoix: ''One portion \ 
of rhinoceros' horn, one portion of elephant's tusk, one 
of tiger's and the same of crocodile's teeth, one of i /- 
bear's teeth ; one portion composed of three parts | 
bones of vulture, raven and goose ; one portion of bison ' 
and another of stag's horn; one portion of sandal. 
These ingredients to be mixed together on a stone 1 
with pure water ; one-half the mixture to be swallowed, j 
the rest to be rubbed into the body ; after vvhich the j 
fever will leave." —-""" 

The following is an abstract of a recipe for the 



3(t2 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

worst type of small-pox, taken from a Siamese Mss. of 
the highest authority. It contains twenty-eight ino;red- 
ients, to-vvit : ■'Dne^ portion of conch shell; two kinds 
of aperient fruit, one portion of each ; one portion of 
asafoetida ; one of borax ; one of ginger ; nine kinds of 
pepper, including the hottest spices, a portion of each ; 
four kmds of cooling roots, a portion of each; 
two kinds of sour leaves, one portion of each; one of 
an astringent root; four kinds of drastic cathartics, 
including the fruit and leaves of the Croton plant, one 
portion of each ; one of rhubarb, and one portion of 
Epsom salts. Boil in three measures of water until 
it be diminished to one measure of the decoction, 
then squeeze out the oily parts of it, dry and pulver- 
ize. A woman may take one salung's weight of it. A 
child may take a fuang's weight. It will purge off 
everything in the bowels." 

The following are specimens of medical recipes 
taken from a Siamese Mss. on the treatment of snake- 
bites. The author states it as being an import- 
ant fact to be taken into consideration in forming 
a diagnosis, that the bite of a venomous serpent, and 
indeed any -.other wound or sore on the left side of a 
female and right side of a male, are unfavorable to a 
cure, and that the reverse is favorable ; and further- 
more, that there is a difference in the curative capa- 
bilities of all wounds according to the day of the week 
on which they were inflicted, as there is also in the 
time of the day — the morning being much more favor- 
able than the evening. 

One of the prescriptions comprises nineteen ingred- 
ients, among which is a portion of the jaw of a wild 
hog, and one of a tame hog and one of a goat; a por- 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 30S 

tion of goose bone and one of a peacock; a portion of 
the tail of a fish, and one of the head of a venomous 
snalve. These, being duly compounded and mixed, 
form an excellent receipt for use in all cases where 
the venom has produced tetanus or lockjaw. 

Another prescription is called a general sternutatory 
to be blown into the nose in cases of a venomous bite or 
other poisoned wounds. It comprises seventeen ingre- 
dients, as wood, bark, nutmeg, camphor, flowers, the 
bile of four kinds of venomous snakes and of a wild 
hog. This, it is said, may be used with much utility 
also by women who can not lie by the fire after child- 
birth, and in cases of epilepsy and asthma. 

Another recipe is a compound to be taken internally, 
being briefly as follows. The bile of two kinds of buf- 
faloes, of two kinds of hogs, of a goat, of a sheep, of 
a fresh water alligator, of a large tortoise, of a salt 
water alligator, of a sword fish, of a shark, and of thirty 
kinds of snakes — so much for the bihous part of it. 
Then there is to be added four kinds of stone, alum, 
and ratsbane ; five kinds of iron, five kinds of bulbous 
roots, and borax ; seven kinds of flowers and fruit ; 
seventeen kinds of leaves ; a little gum and resin ; seven 
kinds of medicated water, etc., etc.; being in all one 
hundred and seventy-four different ingredients. These, 
being all intimately mixed, are to be divided into three 
doses. It is te^-med a large and excellent remedy for 
the bites of all kinds of venomous snakes. \ 

Another is a snuff made of five kinds of lotus flowers, 
calculi taken from the livers of cattle, taany kinds of 
animals' teeth, several kinds of roots, two kinds of rats- 
bane, being twenty-nine ingredients in all. When well 
mixed, rehearse over it some form of incantation thirty- 



304 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

seven times. Then add twenty-two other ingredients 
of equal parts. This is said to heal all kinds of poi- 
soned wounds. 

Then follows a recipe for an external application in 
the form of a paste or poultice, consisting of the eyes 
of vultures, crows and cats; and three kinds of animal 
deposition found on trees. These having been inti- 
mately united, then take nine wax candles, and place 
them on as many floats made of plantain stalk or 
leaf, each ornamented with flowers. Then the doctor 
is to take nine salungs (each equal to fifteen cents), nine 
handf uls of rice, nine ceri leaves, and nine betel nuts, 
and make an offering of them one on each float or altar 
to the Teacher of Medicine. Then he is to take the 
residue, rub together, dry in the sun, and make into 
slugs. Then gild the slugs and rub them up in a little 
water, and apply to the wound. 

Following the above is a direction for an enchant- 
ment with a viev/ to call the snake to suck out the 
poison of the wound which it has inflicted, viz.: Take 
proof spirits three bottles. Let the doctor officiating 
repeat the form of the incantation. Then let him drink 
one of the bottles of spirits and enchant over it. If 
the snake does not come, let him take a second bottle 
and proceed in the same wa'y. If on drinking the third 
bottle, with an enchantment, the snake does not come, 
the patient must die. In case the snake comes, let the 
doctor take three cowries in his hand, and then rehearse 
one form of the enchantment, and then another seven 
times repeated for the purpose of charming the snake 
to come to the left side of the doctor; for if he comes 
to the right side a contention will ensue. Then let the 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 305 

doctor brush off the poison from the wound with a 
handful of meyom leaves seven times, when the form 
of incantation must be rehearsed over the three bottles. 
Then if the patient can eat betel he will get well. 

SIAMESE OBSTETRICS. 

Superstition has invested the whole subject of native 
midwifery with the most silly and ridiculous notions, 
and some very pernicious and cruel. In accordance 
with the teachings of Buddhism, the Siamese believe 
that there never have been any new creations of animal 
or intelligent beings, hence that all living creatures 
that ever have been, or ever vs^ill be born, are simply 
and only transmigrations from previous states of exist- 
ence — that all mere animal beings, have once been in a 
higher state in some previous life, in the form of men 
or women on earth, or as angels in heaven or devils in 
hell, and that mankind have all transmigrated to their 
present state either from some of the many heavenly 
worlds, or from some of the many infernal abodes. 

The native books on midwifery make ah earnest 
business of teaching parents how they may know 
whence their new-born infants have come, and soberly 
state certain signs by which they may know whether 
their expected child is to be a son or daughter. 

Their books say that there is great choice to be had 
between the different days of the week on which a 
child shall be born — Wednesdays and Thursdays being 
regarded as more favorable than any other day for the 
development of vigorous constitutions and bright intel- 
lects. Children born on Sundays are thought to be 
peculiarly liable to be careless and reckless all their 
days. 

Besides these days of every week, they pay much 



306 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

regard to other days, months and years, which their 
astrological books show to be the most auspicious for 
the birth of children. 

There are a thousand other superstitious observances 
connected with this subject, which tend greatly to 
enslave and dwarf the mind of the mother. Happy 
should all other mothers be that they have not been 
brought up under such chains of ignorance and conse- 
quent misery. 

The superstitions surrounding childbirth are peculiar 
and cruel. Those who practice obstetrics are gener- 
ally old women, a doctor is seldom called in except on 
rare occasions, and the midwives endeavor to aid 
natural labor by means of domestic medicines, sham- 
pooning, etc., at times doing much serious mischief. 
The cruelest part of their procedure is immediately 
after childbirth, causing the mother to lie by a hot fire 
for a period of from five to thirty days. If it is the 
first child she is doomed to lie thirty days within four 
feet of a fire always uncomfortably warm, much of the 
time hot enough to blister, on a bare board without a 
mattress or the least thing to soften the hard plank. 
This must continue night and day, at the same time 
wearing nothing but a thin cotton cloth around her 
hips to shield her from the fire, and she is forced to 
keep turning constantly as the heat becomes too much 
for her to bear, in a climate where a fire is anything but 
pleasant to a person in good health, let alone an 
enfeebled woman, and this too in a small room without 
any chimney to carry off the smoke of the burning 
wood, so that the eyes of the patient are almost blinded 
as well as her body half baked. This is called " lying 
by the fire." The fire-place is a box about four feet 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 307 

long- by three wide, from eight to ten inches deep, 
filled with clay, on the top of which the wood is piled 
and kept burning for the time required. The bench on 
which the woman lies is of the same height and is 
brought into immediate contact with it. No one 
knows the origin of this most pernicious custom, cruel 
in the extreme, but it is practiced by a number of the 
East Indian nations. Every effort has been made by 
the foreign physicians to abolish this practice, but so 
far without any signal success. In a few instances the 
wives of His Majesty and of some of the princes have 
dispensed with this barbarous custom, but the old mid- 
wives continue to have their way and the poor mothers 
are still systematically roasted. 

The Siamese are rapidly advancing in their knowl- 
edge of anatomy. A few years since they absolutely 
knew little concerning the human frame ; they had a 
vague knowledge of a few of the bones and tendons, 
but knew nothing in regard to the nerves, having no 
word to designate them. Concerning the arterial cir- 
culation they had the most novel ideas, imagining 
the pulse to be a conductor of wind. Ask a native 
when feelmg his pulse what causes it to beat. As in 
other cases, he will reply " pen lorn," it is wind. They 
formerly imagined that the chest and abdomen were 
one, which they termed bowels ; that the passages to 
the lungs and stomach were one and that the heart 
could be reached through the esophagus. A foreign 
doctor had been called in to treat one of the princes 
who was suffering with palpitation of the heart. Ten 
royal physicians were in attendance, who had been 
physicing him on the supposition that there was a direct 
passage from the mouth to the heart, hence they 



308 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

had been administering cathartics for the purpose of 
expelling the wind that was supposed to be pent up in 
his heart causing the trouble. It was a new idea to 
them that there was no road to the heart except by 
way of the circulation of the blood or by the system- 
atic influence of the nervous system. They regarded 
the liver as having so slight a fastening as to be hable 
to get out of its place, sinking down among the intes- 
tines and producing grave complaints by its erratic 
wanderings. Even up to the present time the stu- 
dents and native doctors at Wang Lang hospital could 
hardly be made to understand that there were kid- 
neys in the human body, nor realize of what use the}'' 
could be in the system. They know but little concern- 
ing surgery, they but seldom use a lancet, and treat 
cancers and tumors with a poultice made up of many 
ingredients, more injurious than beneficial. It was a 
long time before the natives would submit to a surgi- 
cal operation ; now that they have realized the bene- 
ficial effects of Western skill, they are not slow in 
catching on to a good thing, our surgeons and doctors 
are in demand, sometimes having to go hundreds of 
miles in the interior to amputate or set a limb. Thus 
it does not take long to break down the barrier of 
prejudice with them when they are to be benefited. 
It is well that the Siamese are inveterate bathers, 
otherwise the way that they live in filthy huts 
disease would run riot among them, the walls and 
floors of their rooms being stained with betel saliva 
and other filth. 'No wonder that cholera has here its 
abiding place the year round, its natural home, as it 
has come there to stay. Vaccination is very popular 
with the people, having been introduced into the king- 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 309 

dora by an American missionary in 1840, and now the 
King has instructed the native doctors to vaccinate the 
people at his expense. 

One of the worst diseases in Siam and the Asiatic 
coast is leprosy. Hundreds of these miserable diseased 
wretches can be seen begging by the wayside for alms 
in all stages of the dread disease. Some with, fingers 
and toes gone, others with noses and lips off, their 
blackened gums protruding in the most hideous man- 
ner, while many are a mass of hideous ulcers, barely 
able to crawl into the shade of a tree and point to the 
cocoanut shell that holds the few coppers tossed to 
them by the charitable. The native doctors never 
undertake to do anything for a leper ; they say it is 
useless, and so far science has been unable to cure or 
alleviate the ravages of this worst of all human ills. 
It is impossible to tell the number of the lepers in 
Bangkok, but I have seen at least one hundred at Wat 
Kok soliciting alms, and to the credit of the Siamese 
they contribute liberally to these unfortunates whom 
they think the spirits have persecuted for some mis- 
demeanor committed in another period of their exist- 
ence. While it is asserted that the disease is not con- 
tagious, it would be well if these unfortunates were 
housed and cared for, as their appearance is horribly 
repulsive. It is generally supposed that there is a 
large number in the city that no one sees but th,eir 
relatives, those at the wats being paupers whose only 
chance for subsistence is what is given to them. Out- 
side of the lepers there are but few beggars in Siam, 
only those who are deformed, crippled or otherwise 
objects of charity, and they are generally found 
around the temples. 



XXXI. 

SIAMESE PLOUGHS, OX-YOKES AN"D 
HAKEOWS. 

A native plough is not worthy of the name. They are 
of two kinds, one designed to be drawn by a single 
buffalo, and tlie other by a yoke of oxen. The difference 
between them is mainly in the length of the beam. 
The plough for a single buffalo has a beam only about 
four feet long ; but the beam for a yoke of oxen is from 
10 to 12 feet in length, proceeding forward from the 
handle with an upward curve, then downward, and 
then again upward to a slender and graceful point 
which is seen above the heads of the oxen, and 18 or 
20 inches ahead of them. This long beam saves the 
necessity of having any rope or chain to draw the 
plough. The yoke is attached to it by means of a rope 
passing through an auger hole in it and around wooden 
pins in the plough beam some three feet from its anterior 
end. The end where it curves above the heads of the 
oxen serves an important purpose aside from mere 
fancy. Cords passing from the nostrils of each ox is 
made fast to it, with sufficient tightness to keep the 
heads of the cattle quite elevated, making them, it is 
said, much more manageable than without such an 
expedient. But for it, they could not be kept in 
the track marked out for them, as they lose all 
recollection of duty in their hunting for something to 
eat as they plod along. Such appears not to be the 
weakness of the buffalo, and consequently needing no 

SIO 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 311 

such martingales to keep his head up, he is hitched to 
a plough with a short beam and draws it hy means of 
rope traces passing from a rude whippletree to a wooden 
vote fixed on his neck by a rope in place of our ox 
bow. The yoke is in the form of a crescent with its 
extremities curving a little outward forming a small 
knob. To these knobs the traces are tied. You will 
see the buffalo going along with great apparent 
carelessness, always holding his head near the ground, 
snapping up here and there a mouthful of grass, and 
yet never losing the furrow by which he is to walk. 
The only trouble seems to be that he will halt a little 
to get what he wishes to eat. He, as well as the oxen, 
is guided by reins fastened to his nostrils. 

A yoke designed for a pair of oxen is often a simple 
straight and rounded stick 2^ inches in diameter and 3^ 
feet long. Some of them are more tasty by having a 
slight bend downward in their middle with a little 
enlargement there for an auger hole for the rope of the 
plough or the tongue of a cart to be attached, a slight 
curve upward and then downward for the necks of the 
oxen, ending in a little curve upward. The neck of 
each ox is confined to its place by means of two 
straight wooden pins three-quarters of an inch in 
diameter and a foot long, passing through the yoke in 
the place of a bow, being less open at the top than at 
the bottom ; and then small cords, passing under the 
neck tied to the upper ends of the pins, complete all 
the purposes of an ox-bow. 

The two kinds of ploughs are about equally strong, 
but neither of them strong enough to stand a hard pull 
from a yoke of ordinary western oxen. The one for a 
buffalo would not usually weigh more than 30 lbs. Its 



312 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

runner and mould board is a natural crotch being one 
and the same stick, the shorter branch of the crotch 
serving for the mould board, and the longer branch for 
the runner. The latter is about two feet long by 10 
inches round. It comes to a small point at its nose 
fitted for the socket of the ploughshare. The latter, 
but a little larger than a large human hand, is made of 
cast-iron the shape of half of a large ovate leaf cut 
square off in the middle. Its upper plane is flat, 
inclining a very little to the right hand when in its 
place. It bulges out on the under side to form a 
flattened socket to receive the nose of the runner. It 
is never fastened in its place excepting by a close fit, 
their owners wishing to have them so that they may 
be knocked off at night and carried home to secure 
them from thieves. 

The mould board, if such it can be called, is only of 
the same width of the runner, but made thinner, 
curving backward and upward about 12 inches. It has 
a slight inclination to the right hand to favor the 
turning of the clods to that side rather than the other. 
Being a natural branch of the runner it needs nothing 
to strengthen it. The hinder end of the beam curves 
down and is framed into the back end of the runner. 
The handle of the plough (for there are never two) is a 
natural crook forming a large segment of a circle four 
feet long, passes through the beam just behind the 
mould board, and is framed in the runner near the 
acute angle made by the two. 

Kow such is all there is of a Siamese plough, the 
wood part costing only 75 cents, and the iron 16 cents. 
It cuts a furrow 2 inches deep and from 5 to 6 inches 
wide. We should judge that only about half of the 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 313 

clods it breaks up are turned over by it. It does its 
work very imperfectly at the best. 

The natives plough in the same way as we do in 
America, going round and round a part of the lot or 
the whole, if it be but small, until it is all cut up. The 
teams always have rope reins fastened to their nostrils, 
and these the ploughmen take in their left hand while 
they hold the plough with the other. 

The harrow is simply a large wooden rake, consisting 
of a rounded stick of tough wood 3 inches in diameter, 
having 10 or 12 teeth. It has a hoop shape handle for 
the convenience of lifting it up to shake off grass and 
stubble that get entangled in its teeth, and for bearing 
down to give it more execution when needed. Its 
tongue is made of two small bamboos and extends far 
enough ahead to admit of tying to it the cords from 
the nostrils of the oxen and forcing them to hold up 
their heads. The pitch-fork used in handling rice and 
grass has but one prong, yet they get along rapidly 
with it. American hatchets, hoes and axes are com- 
ing into use and find ready sale in the bazars. 



XXXII. 

BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF SIAMESE HISTOEY.— A 
TRANSLATION. 

The history commences with a Laos king who 
reigned in Chieng-rai, at that time the capital of the 
kingdom. The neighboring king of Sa-tawng invaded 
his country and took the capital and carried away 
many captives. On the capture of Chieng-rai the 
king with many of its inhabitants fled and took refuge 
within the boundaries of Siam. Crossing the river Po, 
they came to the ancient city of Paap then in ruins. 
This city and Kam-p'aang-p'et were situated on opposite 
sides of the river. The king being endowed with 
extraordinary merit, P'ra-In, assumed the form 
of an ascetic and presented himself before him as he 
was riding on his elephant. He counseled him to 
found his capital there, being an auspicious place, 
wher§ he would be safe from all enemies. He then 
vanished. The king, being delighted with this appari- 
tion, said, this ascetic is assuredly P'ra-In, who has 
assumed this form in order to give me this advice. 
He therefore encamped and there he built his capital 
with walls, forts, gates, towers and trenches all com- 
plete. When his royal palace and dwellings for the 
nobles and people were completed, he called it Trei- 
trung, because its sight had been designated by P'ra-In. 
In this city he and his descendants reigned for four 
generations. 

At that time there was a very poor man, whose 

314 



THE PEAEL OP ASIA, 315 

wlioie body was covered with tumors, on which account 
he was called N"ai Saan Pom, or the man of a hundred 
thousand tumors. This man had a small garden on the 
river's bank a day's journey south of the city in which 
he cultivated egg-plant, pepper and other vegetables as a 
means of subsistence. One of these egg-plants, standing 
near his house, was watered daily from his own person, 
it therefore bore fruitof extraordinary size and beauty. 
The king's daughter, at that time desiring some egg- 
plant, sent her maids to buy some. Attracted by the 
beauty of these large ones offered for sale by J^ai Saan 
Pom, she purchased them. She carried them to her 
mistress, who partook of them, and was consequently 
found to be pregnant. When her father became aware 
of it, he made inquiry, but could not learn that she 
had in anyway violated her chastity. At the end of ten 
months she brought forth a son perfect in all his parts 
and distinguished for his great beauty. All the royal 
family aided in nourishing the child till it was three 
years old. Its royal grandfather then thought that he 
would then endeavor to discover by divination its 
father. He made a proclamation commanding all the 
males of the city to assemble in the grounds of the 
royal palace, each person being required to bring with 
him some article of food. He then commanded the 
nurse to bring the child forth, with a prayer that if his 
father were present the child might be guided to him 
and eat whatever he had in his hand. Passing by 
the inviting portion in the hands of the rich and the 
great, he made his way straight to ISTai Saan Pom who 
had only a lump of cold rice. Embracing him round his 
neck, he took this and ate it, to the great astonishment 
and indignation of all present. A feeling of shame 



316 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

predominated in the breast of the king ; he, therefore, 
gave both his daughter and her child to Nai Saan Pom, 
and had her put on a raft to be floated out of the cit}^ 
When they arrived at the garden of Nai Saan Pom, he 
led them up into his hut. In consequence of the great 
merit of these three persons, P'ra-In assumed the form 
of a monkey, and presented to ]N"ai Saan Pom a celestial 
drum. At the same time he told him that he had only 
to strike that drum and whatever he desired should be im- 
mediately granted. The monkey then vanished from his 
sight. Knowing that it was the gift of a celestial being, 
he was greatly delighted, and instantly struck it with 
the desire that he might become beautiful in form and 
handsome in appearance. His tumors all immediately 
vanished and he became distinguished for his extraordi- 
nary beauty. He brought the drum to his house, and 
told his wife all that had happened. She was much 
rejoiced and struck it again, desiring that they might 
receive gold of the first quality sufficient to make a 
cradle for their boy ISTo sooner done, than the gold 
was theirs and from that circumstance the boy received 
the name of P'ra-Chow-oo-t'awng 

In the year 681 Siamese era, or about A. D. 1320, the 
father of Chow-oo-t'awng again struck the drum and 
a large splendid capital sprung into existence with walls 
forts, towers, gates and trenches all complete, together 
with a royal palace. He called the city T'ep-na-k'awn 
because it was accomplished by the power of the t'ewa- 
da. The people then encouraged each other to take up 
their abode there, so that it was soon fi.lled with a large 
population and the father of Chow-oo-t'awng, whose 
fame reached to Siam, reigned there under the title of 
Somdet P'ra-Chow-see-ch'ei Ch'ieng Saan. He was 



THE PEARL OF ASIA, 317 

a prince of distinguished merit and great power. He 
reigned twenty-five years, and died in the year T06= 
A. D. 1346. At his death the celestial drum also 
disappeared. He was succeeded the same year by his 
son — 

P'ra Chow Oo-T'awng. He made a great burning for 
his father's remains, and reigned in T'ep-na-k'awn, 
his father's capital, six years. Desiring to found a new 
one, he sent his officers to search for a place where fish 
of every kind was abundant. Coming south they found 
such a place and reported it to the king. He came 
down to it with all his people. They pitched their 
tents in a place called "Weeang-lek, and immediately 
commenced leveling the ground^ and preparing materi- 
als for building a new walled capital, which he called 
Kroong t'ep'a-maha-nak'awn bawawn t'a-wa-ra wadee 
see-a-yoot'aya ma-ha-dilokp'op nop'a-archa'a-t'anee 
booree-rom oodom rach'a-ni-wet maha sat'an — alias 
Ayuthia. 

While building the city in the year 712 on Friday the 
6th day of the fifth waxing moon, at nine minutes past 
nine in the morning, they found under a mulberry tree 
a shell whose spiral whorl is sinistral or from right to 
left. Eegarding that as an auspicious omen, he caused 
three royal audience chambers to be erected on that 
spot. P'ra-Chow oo-T'awng began to reign at the age 
of thirty-seven under the title — 

I. Somdet P'ra Eama T'ibawdee the 1st. He 
appointed his queen's elder brother governor of Soop'- 
an-booree, under the title of Somdet P'ra Bawroma- 
Each'a-T'irat, and made his own son P'ra Eame-sooan 
governor of Lop booree. There were at that time six- 
teen provincial cities tributary to Siam, viz.: Malaka, 



318 THE PBAEL OF ASIA. 

Ch^awa, Tanow-see, Tawai, Mavv:-tama; Maw:-lam 
lo'ng, Nak'awn-see-t'ama-rat, Songk'la, Chant'a-booree 
P'ra-p'itsa-noolok, Sook'ot'ei, P'ich'ei, Sawank'alok, 
Kamp'aang-p'et-P'ichit, l^ak'awn-sawan. 

The king built two temples during his reign. He 
also sent his son on an expedition against Cambodia, 
Somdet P'ra Bawroma-Each'a-T'irat leading the reserve 
force. They conquered the capital of Cambodia 
and brought back a great many captives to Ayuthia. 
This Somdet P'ra Rama-T'ibawdee, the first king who 
reigned in A.yuthia, died in the year 731 or A. D. 
1370 in the 56th year of his age and the 20th of his 
reign, the projenitor of the Siamese monarchs, and was 
succeeded by four dynasties, embracing thirty-nine 
kings, the present dynasty representing five kings. 
Tlie three first dynasties reigned in Ayuthia, which 
was captured and destroyed in the year of 1767, after 
a three-year siege, they having been the monarchs of 
Siam for a period of four hundred and seventeen years. 
After the Burmese had sacked the capital and taken 
off thousands of the people prisoners a Siamese Gen- 
eral, P'ra yah Lohk-Sin, of great celebrity, rallied the 
Siamese under him at T'onaburee and after a number of 
hard-fought battles, drove the invaders back and laid 
the foundation of Bangkok, since then the capital. 
He founded the present fourth, dynasty, and after a 
reign of twenty-seven years was succeeded by his son 
P'ra P'utt'a Lo't-lah, who reigned fifteen years, and 
was succeeded by his son P'rabaht Somdetch P'raJN^ang 
Klow, who reigned twenty-seven years, then his son 
P'ra baht Somdetch P'ra Paramendr Maha-mongkut, 
who reigned seventeen years and was succeeded by His 
Majesty King Chulalongkorn. 



FAC SIMILE OF COPY OF HIS MAJESTY'S SPEECH. 




^:rmur)mum}mir)m]rii]ir}fml Ivmrirfiinm&inm 

^mllmmwmmrimmmm i mvtirlifmummluwm 
it^\r)m^im^rmi}umr^'^ulfi \umirimihumfmmm\uri 

uifrnuiijvijnijiun i^Wimiyt):Ji%nilu?TOri)W)iJ 



u 

1 1 

319 



XXXIII. 



Translation of His Majesty's speech in reply to Col. 
J. T. Child, Minister Resident. 

Audience of January IT, 1891. 

"We regret that you should be compelled to leave our 
capital so quickly. We have while you fulfilled the 
office of Minister Besident to our court received vari- 
ous proofs of your endeavor to maintain our friendly 
relations, and thus we are bound to you by love and 
must praise you for the spirit in which you approached 
all questions with our Minister in order to make our 
friendly relations still more close. 

You have been long enough in Siam to bear witness 
of our solicitude to maintain in every instance the friend- 
ship between Siam and the United States and to 
increase the welfare of our country by closer relations 
with other powers to which you have just alluded. 

On the point of leaving our capital we request you 
to assure the President of the United States of our anx- 
iety to increase our friendly relations with the United 
States of America, which are of the highest moment 
to us, and we beg likewise that you will assure him of 
our personal esteem and friendship. 

And now we wish you in every way a prosperous voy- 
age to your home and country. 



XXXIV. 

HIS MAJESTY'S BIETHDAY FESTIYITIES. 

The festivities celebrating His Majesty's birthday- 
lasts for three days, when the city of Bangkok is a scene 
of unrivaled mirth and jollification. This event occurs 
on the 26th of September, during which time business 
is virtually suspended and at night the city is illuminated 
in the most gorgeous manner, each one trying to outdo 
his neighbor in the display of lights. At noon on the 
third day the diplomatic body, the princes and nobles 
repair to the supreme palace to tender congratulations 
to His Majesty on the anniversary of his birth. The 
American Minister, being the dean of tiie diplomatic 
body, was required to deliver the congratulatory 
address to the King, which was listened to attentively 
by the large number of princes and nobles that were in 
attendance, the throne room being filled with courtiers, 
the King being attended by the Chow Fa, Crown Prince. 
His Majesty replied at some length, assuring his hear- 
ers that he would do everything that lay in his power 
to advance the interest of his people, that concessions 
for railways and tramways, as well as for the workings 
of mines, had been granted ; that the same spirit that 
had prevailed in the past would be carried out in the 
future, that outlawry should be put down, etc. Con- 
gratulatory addresses were also made by the prmces and 
nobles. The reception was a very pleasant one; the 
King and his nobles dressed in full uniform, flashing with 
jewels, together with the diplomats, most of whom wore 

321 



322 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

showy uniforms, standing in the large audience cham- 
ber, made a picture of oriental magnificence, once 
seen it became indelibly photographed on the memory, 
but the grandest sight was the illuminations. The 
pearly skies had scarcely faded into ebon hues ere the 
whole place seemed to have been touched by the wand 
of an enchanter ; miles upon miles of glittering lights 
gleamed everywhere, and tower and spire and dome 
were sharply outlined against the dusky canopy that 
night had thrown over the city, marvellous to behold 
to one unaccustomed to such scenic displays. 

It had been my belief that the display in St. Louis 
during fair week was unrivalled, but it was nothing in 
comparison to that in Bangkok on this occasion. The 
majestic Menam was a blaze of light, all of the lega- 
tions, large mercantile houses, club houses, noblemen's 
palaces and residences, boats and^ shipping wer-e liter- 
ally covered with lamps filled with cocoanut oil, the 
design of many being very elaborate, mottoes, coats 
of arms, etc., but the handsomest display was the royal 
palace and walls surrounding it, over two miles in 
extent, which was literally ablaze with parti-colored 
lights, the outlines of the buildings being sharply 
defined by rows of lamps that stretched from turret 
to foundation, lighting up the embrazures and towers 
along the battlements, while the large arsenal, palace 
of justice and government buildings along the esplan- 
ade, opposite the palace, about a mile in extent, were 
similarly illuminated, flashing as if studded with 
brilliants, the effect being marvellous. Immediately in 
front of the main palace gate a fountain throws its 
waters high in air and the liquid drops, catching the 
gleam of the electric lights that streamed through globes 



THE PEAKL OF ASIA. S23 

of colored, glass, seemed .like a shower of rubies, 
diamonds and emeralds; above it glowed a flaming 
scroll on which was emblazoned in large letters "' Long 
Live The King." Inside the palace ground the illumin- 
ation was still more elaborate. To add to the interest 
of the occasion several bands of music discoursed 
national airs. In the distance, springing out of groves 
of palm and banyan trees could be seen a number of 
palaces distinctly outlined, seemingly giant planets amid 
a world of lesser stars, which added no little to the 
beauty of the scene. 

During the evening the King, accompanied by his 
nobles, steamed slowly down the river in his yacht 
to witness the illumination, and his passing was the 
signal for a display of rockets, bombs, etc., the upper 
deep soon becoming ruddy with the glare of the grand 
pyrotechnics, it being a triumphal trip and one that 
proved that His Majesty was very popular with all 
classes of people, foreign as well as native. In various 
parts of the city, Chinese theaters and Siamese lacons 
gave free performances, thousands atttending highly 
delighted, and on every side bazars and stands for the 
sale of fruits,, sweets, food, tea, soda water and other 
refreshments, including liquors of all kind. On the 
evening of the third day a grand ball was given bv 
the Foreign Minister, the Kromata, H. R. H. Prince 
Devawongse, at his magnificent palace, which was 
generally attended by the foreign residents of the city; 
but a feeling of regret prevailed when it was announced 
that, owing to the death of the uncle of the Xing, he 
would not be present, and thus the assemblage was 
debarred from a sight of royalty, but it did not detract 
from the enjoyment of the occasion; dancing was kept 



324 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

up till 4 o'clock and the heavens aglow with the corus- 
cations of morn ; the banquet was superb and cham- 
pagne and other liquids flowed more freely than water. 
At the banquet it fell to the American Minister to 
offer the toast of the evening, " The health of His 
Majesty, King Chulalongkorn," which he did in a 
few remarks congratulatory, saying en passant^ " In 
the future may nothing heaver fall on his brow than 
the lilies of time." To this the Kromata responded 
most happily, then the band played and dancing 
recommenced. To an American it was a novel affair 
and the magnificent room, lit with electric lights and 
filled with elaborately costumed, handsome women and 
gallant gentlemen keeping time to one of Strauss' 
popular waltzes, made a pleasing picture. One could 
hardly realize that he was at the antipodes, in a city 
almost unknown to most people, a terra incognita, but 
so it was. This annual ball is looked forward to with 
great interest by the foreign population of Siam's 
capital as the one event of the year, and they make 
the most of it. Upon this occasion diplomats, princes, 
merchants, skippers, engineers, in fact all classes who 
have received invitations to attend, put in an appear- 
ance and mingle on terms of social equality; at other 
times the etiquette of position is rigidly observed- 
During the evening wine, ices and other refreshments 
were passed around by well-trained waiters, and each 
one handed a fan as a souvenir ; the ladies were also 
presented with a bouquet and a scarf of mogries to wear 
over the shoulder. In the sitting-rooms some of the 
gentlemen retired to smoke, play whist or billiards, 
and thus while away the hours, while others devoted 
the time to terpsichorean revels with the fair divinities 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 335 

who were there for enjoyment. Nothing was left 
undone to make it an enjoyable affair; all present 
pronounced it a grand success, and thus ended the 
festivities in honor of the reigning monarch. The 
politeness and attention of the Siamese towards their 
guests is proverbial, and upon this occasion it was 
evinced to the fullest extent. 




XXXV. 

THE MONEY STAINTDAED OF SIAM. 

Silver is the standard of values in Siam, no gold being 
coined except a few pieces that the King distributes 
on coronation or cremation ceremonies. The gold 
pieces are similar in design to those of the silver coin- 
age and possess twenty times their value. Their table 
of money and weights is as follows : 

Fifty Biah make one Solot, two Solots one At, two 
Als one See-o or Pai, two See-o one SeeJi, two Seeks 
one Fuang, two Fuangs one Salung. four Salungs one 
Baht or Tical, four Bahts one Tamlu'ng, twenty Tam- 
lu'ng one Chang, fifty Changs one Hahp, one hundred 
Hahps one Pahrah: The biah or cowdery shell has 
been abolished. The Solot, At, See-o and Seek are 
copper pieces; the Fuang, Salung and the Baht or 
Tical are silver pieces. The denominations after Baht 
represent weight, the Siamese chang is equiva- 
lent to two Chinese catties and is the equal of two and 
two-thirds English pounds. No law of Siam affects the 
Chinese standard of weight. The catty can be no more 
nor less than what the law of China ordains. As the 
export trade is greatly in excess of the imports, large 
quantities of Mexican dollars are brought into the 
country and recoined into ticals and smaller currency 
The late King Somdetch P'ra Chaum Klow established 
the present law, making five ticals the equivalent of 
three Mexican dollars, Mexican silver being the stan- 
dard of the Asiatic coast. The importer takes his dol- 

326 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 327 

lars to the mint and the officers there heat them red-hot 
to detect counterfeits, and if genuine, ticals are given 
in exchange. This law makes the par value of the tical; 
sixty cents of a dollar, the salung fifteen and the f uangj 
eight and a half cents, the taralu'ng $2.40, the chan^ 
$48.00, the hahp $2,400 and the p'arah $240,000. ' 

Previous to and during a portion of the reign of the 
late king the small change of the country consisted of 
sea-shells, known as the cowrie, and designated by the 
natives as the bi'ah; the purchasing power of the bi'ah was 
about fifteen hundred to the f uang or eight cents, not- 
withstanding the government attempted to fix their 
value at 800 for a fuang. At that time the coins were all 
round, almost bullet-shaped, millions of which are still 
in circulation, but the King improved the appearance of 
the coin by having it struck similar to that of other 
nations, instead of the round bullets, with two small 
stamps on them. The coins now issued have the profile 
of the King on them and are really pretty, showing . 
that the Siamese are abandoning some of their old, 
prejudices, one of which was that no one should make 
the profile of His Majesty for general circulation, as it 
was considered a gross violation of Siamese etiquette 
should it be multiplied and sold as foreign pictures 
were. The silver coins are the standard of weight in 
the lower provinces, the rupee in the Laos states. 
Occasionally one of the gold pieces can be purchased, 
but they are rare and bring large prices by coin collec- 
tors, being regarded as curiosities. There are a large, 
number of counterfeits in circulation among the bullet- 
shaped coin, owing to the fact that a number of year^ 
ago the master of the mint, \inknown to the King, 
manufactured an immense number of copper ticals, and 



328 THS PEAEL OF ASIA. 

being an adept in metallurgy plated them with silver, 
and put them in circulation. He was arrested, his 
property confiscated, and I was informed that he was 
still iu jail, a prisoner, but demented. The Chinese 
have also put a large number of bogus coins in circu- 
lation. A couple of years since the Hong Kong and 
Shanghae bank commenced the issue of paper 
money and it grew rapidly in popular favor, as paper 
is so much easier carried than weighty silver, and it 
was no novel sight to see eight or ten coolies on their 
way to the banks or mercantile houses carrying large 
sacksof silver coin, and frequently boat-loads of ticals 
are seen on their way up the river to pay for teak and 
rice; and cart-loads, escorted by soldiers on their way 
from the interior, taxes to be paid into the royal treas- 
ury, frequently from ten to fifteen in the train, all 
heavily loaded, each drawn by a couple of bullocks. 



XXXVI. 

THE PEESS OF SIAM. 

This is no land for newspapers, the history of the 
press of Siam is a novel one. There are now two 
English printed papers published there, the Times, 
sirni-weekly, at $20 per annum, and the Adnertiser 
weekly, at $24 per annum. They represent the two 
extremes, one favorable to the Siamese, the other in 
decided opposition. For a half century the missiona- 
ries have endeavored to keep pace with the times by 
publishing an annual calendar and newspapers. By 
their efforts several papers have been started, but they 
somehow have always been brought up in the consular 
courts charged with libel, on the most frivolous pre- 
texts, and suspended. In 1864 a Mr. Chandler, an 
American, started the Siam Times, but General Part- 
ridge, our consul, not liking his style, the Times soon 
ceased to circulate. Dr. Bradley then started the Ba7ig- 
liok Jtecorder, but the American consul, who it ap- 
pears did not like newspapers, at the conclusion of a libel 
suit brought by the French consul against the Doctor 
decided that he was libelous and must be fined because 
he had published a report current in the palace that the 
French consul had demanded the removal of the Prime 
Minister. As the paper was not paying and the Doctor 
had to settle the bill, he concluded that running a paper 
was not a part of his mission, and the Reoorder slept 
the sleep that knows no awakening, not even issuing an- 
other number to record its demise. The Biam Monitor 

339 



330 THE PEARL OF ASIA. 

then sprung up, but the American consul having 
come to the conclusion that Bangkok was an unhealthy 
city for newspaper enterprise the Monitor went out 
with the mango showers. Rev. Sam J. Smith then 
stepped to the front and started the Siam WeeJdy 
Adriertiser, which he continued to publish for seven- 
teen years, more as an advertising sheet than a dissem- 
inator of news, but supposing that the era of libel had 
passed he was startled when he was brought up by a 
round turn and met the fate of his predecessors, for 
when he was called on to pay $1,500 by the English 
consul for publishing a communication that he had not 
written or even endorsed, not libelous in a general 
sense, he shut up shop and said the paper could go to a 
warmer place than Siam, that the proud privilege of 
running a paper was exhausting his exchequer and he 
would have no more of it, in fact it had never paid. 
This ended the efforts of the missionaries to keep up 
a paper. 

Appreciating the power of the press, if properly 
handled, the Siamese officials endeavored to keep the 
Ad'Gertiser afloat by offering to subscribe for one 
hundred and fifty copies, provided that they would be 
allowed to exercise a censorship over its columns, but 
the proprietor had had enough of glory and the paper 
still remains with the honored dead. Then an eccentric 
genius, a cosmopolitan, as much at home in Paris as at 
Singapore, who had had some experience on the Ilong 
Kong papers, driftedintoBangkok, stood in with the Si- 
amese officials and now publishes, in fact, the first news- 
paper that has ever been published in the city. During its 
existence it has published more libelous articles than 
any of its predecessors, but it still lives. To counteract 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 831 

its influence a German, who had a grievance with the 
Siamese government, started the Mercantile Gazette; 
he made things hot all along the line, made his paper 
readable, but he was soon, arrested for libeling the 
Siamese by publishing an article clipped from an 
English paper and other assaults on the Rmg. He was 
tried before the German consul, fined and imprisoned ; 
the Gazette then shortly followed the others, his specu- 
lation proved a failure, but another paper has been 
started with the same material, possibly to share the 
same fate. 

The Siamese have, strictly speaking, no regular news- 
paper, only a Government Gazette, printed in Siamese, 
which contains court proceedings, proclamations, cere- 
monies, promotions, etc., containing no political or 
other news of importance, and has but a limited circu- 
lation. A native journal was started by l^oi Plang, 
a well educated Siamese, who had passed a very 
creditable examination at the English bar and who acts 
as one of the advisors of the government. His paper 
was rapidly becoming popular, but his remarks were 
trenching on dangerous grounds, in fact he had com- 
menced to advocate that the Chinese were becoming 
too numerous in Siara, which was something that His 
Majesty thought should be let alone, so his paper ven- 
ture was nipped in the bud just as it was blossoming 
out into usefulness. Mr. Smith, the editor of the 
defunct Advertiser, edits and pubHshes a Siamese 
paper from his office which is interesting from the 
native correspondence appearing in its columns. It 
has no life in it and is but little read. A monthly 
journal is published under the auspices of one of the 
leading nobles, which aims at Western ideas in its 



332 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

endeavors to give the current news, but it receives but 
a meager support, having a very small circulation. 
The Siamese are great readers, but it is the most trashy- 
stuff, strictly oriental and frequently of the most 
obscene nature, the native novels abounding in 
the filthiest stories told in the grossest manner; in fact 
all oriental literature is of that nature, but highly 
poetical. This they read and it is in great demand. 
Thousands of novels of this character are printed in 
Bangkok which find ready sale at good prices. A col- 
lection of Siamese novels, histories and other works 
would form quite a library, especially their religious 
works. They are not far enough advanced to appre- 
ciate newspapers, caring but little for the news of the 
outside world. 



XXXVII. i 

A YISIT TO PETCHABUREE, ITS PALACE— 

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN AND LAOS 

VILLAGE. 

One of the most pleasant trips one can take, if time 
is no object, while on a visit to Siam, is to the ancient 
city of Petchaburee, capital of the province of that 
name. The route thither is by a series of canals and 
rivers, thence across an arm of the lovely gulf ; the 
trip generally occupying two days, which is accom- 
plished by means of a house-boat, the distance being 
about seventy-five miles. A portion of the scenery is 
grand, especially that on the coast of the gulf where 
small mountains and pinnacles stand out sharply against 
the bluest of skies, but most of it along the canals is 
monotonous, the wide stretches of rice-fields only 
broken in places by groves of palm and betel trees in 
which are nestled the whitest of wats and handsome 
salas. When the shadows of night fall the con ruas, 
boat boys, tie fast to some sala, prepare dinner, then 
the mosquito nets are stretched and as the darkness 
increases the trees around are illuminated by millions of 
fire-flies flashing their light together, apparently by some 
preconcerted arrangement ; then again all would be 
gloom, seemingly the work of the genii of the forest. 
On this route you pass a village memorable as the birth- 
place of Chang and Eng, the well known Siamese 
twins. In many places monkeys can be seen playing in 
the branches of the trees, pelicans standing lazily along 

333 



334 THE PEAKL OF ASIA. 

the canals and now and then a flash of gleaming color 
dazzles' the eye as some bird of gorgeous plumage flies 
from tamarand to palm or nestles in the emerald foliage 
of the Bo tree. 

At every village are canoes laden with fruit, rice, 
flowers, with other articles, for sale, the loud smelling 
durian being the favorite fruit, selhng readily at from 
one to two ticals. At early morn, having drifted down 
the river, we raised a small sail and started across the 
gulf, the mouth of the Petchaburee river, with its fringe 
of attap palms faintly defined on the distant horizon. 
As the stars slowly faded away and the sun came up 
gilding the tremulous waves that rocked our boat 
gently, a cool breeze filling its sail, the blue outlines of 
the far-away Burmese mountains plainly visible, it 
made us realize that this was indeed a favored spot for 
the children of the sun, worthy of poet's pen or painter's 
pencil, our hearts filled to fullness as one of the party 
sang " Nearer my God to Thee," and as the words of 
the well-remembered hymn floated out over the waters 
we all appreciated the grandeur of the scene, that here 
nature had poured from her cornucopia many of man's 
choicest blessings, an Arcadian retreat of supernal 
loveliness. 

Reaching the mouth of the river our boys rowed 
rapidly up stream and all were much pleased with the 
scenery along iis meanderings, most of the time pass- 
ing under the shade of majestic trees and flowering 
vines, -the air heavy with its weight of perfume, while 
at every turn could be seen numbers of natives sporting 
in the sparkling water which was as limpid as a dew- 
drop. Tlie sun had well-nigh reached its meridian ere' 
we made the landing that led to the abode of the mis- 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 335 

sionaries. Before we could step ashore we were met 
with a most cordial greeting from Mr. Dunlap and 
family, Dr. Thompson and wife, Misses Cort and Small, 
members of the Presbyterian mission at Petchaburee, 
the most active and efficient station in lower Siam. 
They have fine residences and lovely grounds, their 
compounds are a wealth of flowers, evincing great floral 
taste and skill. Belonging to the mission is a sub- 
stantially built church, a number of school buildings, 
and Dr. Thompson has established a fine hospital, 
subsidized by the King. Since then Dr. Thompson and 
family have moved to Ratburee, farther into the inter- 
ior, where he has established another hospital. The 
city contains about 20,0'^0 inhabitants, is the home of 
the Governor, one of the most prominent of Siam's 
nobles, built like other Siamese cities, mostly bamboo 
houses, some handsome palaces, large filthy bazaars 
ruined temples and a general air of apathy prevails 
throughout the whole place. The river passes through 
the center of the city, which is used for all purposes. 
Some of the modern wats are large and handsome, one 
containing a sleeping Buddha one hundred and forty 
feet in length, another over five hundred statues of the 
great teacher, of life size, standing and sitting, both of 
whom are worthy a visit. 

The Governor, being notified that I was in the city, 
called on me with all the style and ceremony in keeping 
with these magnates and kindly placed at my disposal 
a carriage so that I could visit the holy mountain, the 
King's palace and a Laos village, the lions of the place, 
which was accepted in the most courteous manner, 
our party returning the visit of the Governor next 
morning at his palace where we were received most 



336 THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 

courteously ; tea, cigars and cigarettes being tended us. 
A couple of days travel distant, on ponies, are a num- 
ber of hot springs, which, it was our intention to visit, 
but learning that a fatal fever was prevailing in the 
vicinity we were forced to give up the trip. The car- 
riage having called at the mission for us, our party set 
out for the holy mountain, about two miles distant 
from the city, over a well-kept road shaded with palms 
and fringed with oleanders, the latter growing here 
from twenty to thirty feet high. The mountain is 
about two hundred and fifty feet in height, apparently 
an extinct volcano, hollow, with two apertures a.t the 
top, one of which is used as an entrance, a long flight 
of stone steps leading into the interior, known as the 
" Cav6 of Idols." This immense vault has been fitted 
up as a temple, its floor handsomely tiled and statues 
of Buddha placed everywhere within it, one for each 
day of the year, several of them of immense magnitude, 
five persons being able to stand at once on the thumb of 
one of them. In niches along the steps were placed life- 
sized figures of men, made of clay, flesh-colored, intended 
to represent the dead, with all of the agony of dissolu- 
tion portrayed on their features and distorted limbs. 
Huge stalactites hang like pendants from the roof, 
which towers about two hundred feet above, the 
chamber is about an acre in extent with another not 
used branching off from it. The largest opening in 
the center of the roof lights it up magnificently, hke 
the Pantheon at Rome. It is one of the most unique 
temples of this wonderful land. As it is a sylvan soli- 
tude, quite a number of priests resort thither for medi- 
tation and they can be seen squatting beside the clay 



THE PEAEL OF ASIA. 837 

figures, typical of man's dissolution, the living almost 
as callous as the dead. 

Having spent several hours in this subterranean 
temple, we drove to the royal palace, situated on a lofty 
hill on the outskirts of the city, a long avenue shel- 
tered with palms leading to it. Beaching the base of 
the hill we dismounted and walked over a wide brick- 
paved path to the top, a winding road, passing a num- 
ber of salas used for the reception of the retainers of 
His Majesty while on a visit to this regal abode. In 
some of the salas were handsome vehicles in the last 
stage of dissolution, a number of rusty cannon, every- 
thing grown up with dank weeds, while on the stones 
large lizzards lay basking in the sun, the place seeming- 
ly the abode of venomous serpents ; but we saw none 
and were thus agreeably disappointed. The path 
terminated at the base of two steep stairways with 
massive stone balusters, which led to several two-story 
brick buildings ; then came the private apartments of the 
King's nobles with wide paved terraces and extensive 
barracks. On the summit of the hill, as can be seen 
from the engraving, is situated the palace proper, com- 
prising the royal audience hall, chambers, library, a wat 
and an observatory. The audience chamber was barren 
of ornaments, is about seventy-five feet in length by 
forty in width and twelve in height. At one end is a 
semi-circular dais, consisting of four marble steps, over 
it the royal umbrella. A few ordinary pictures hung 
on the walls, while a handsome chandelier was sus- 
pended from the ceiling. The palace was partially 
furnished, it only being occupied at long intervals. 
From the observatory a grand view can be had of the 
surrounding country. As far as the eye can reach is a 



:338 THE PEARL OF ASIA.. 

vast ocean of paddy fields, and here and there stand 
out groves of bamboo and palm, islands in a waveless 
sea of verdure ; to the west the Burmese mountains 
hemmed in the horizon, while away off to the South an 
orient sun was reflecting back its glory from the spark- 
ling waters and turning into gold the lateen sails of the 
fishing boats that lazily floated on the rim of the far- 
away gulf, a panorama not to be excelled in beauty in 
any other portion of our planet. A scene lovely as a 
poet's dream, nature's choicest handiwork. 

Tendering the polite senechal of the palace a silver 
coin, we were soon on our way to the Laos village, a 
cluster of about twenty huts, occupied by slaves of the 
King, descendants of captives in war. The houses are 
unlike those of the Siamese ; the}^ are built of bamboo, 
two stories high, thatched with attap ; the lower story 
is used for a stable and rubbish generally, the upper 
entered by a ladder which is drawn up at night, for all 
purposes and is but scantily furnished, in fact contained 
nothing but a few boxes and baskets with some matting 
to sleep on. The houses are of a peculiar cone shape, 
like the bark huts of some of our Indians, but much 
larger. A center pole is planted in the ground and the 
roof, that comes nearly to the ground, like a half -closed 
umbrella, comprises the outside of the house, looking at a 
distance like a huge straw stack. Adjacent to these 
houses were a number of sheds where the women did 
their cooking and kept their looms for weaving cloth, 
and they are very skillful, making handsome panungs 
and sarongs, raising their own silk and cotton. The 
Laos women wear a peculiar head-dress, and in the place 
of the panung they use a sarong, a garment similar to a 
petticoat, also large silver ear-rings. Some of their 



THE PEARL OF ASIA. 339 

■dresses are very handsome, embroidered most elabo- 
rately, and no Laos maiden is allowed to marry until 
she has made a full and complete stock of clothing for 
herself. They are more industrious than the Siamese, 
and are considered among the best subjects of His 
Majesty. Their language is somewhat similar to the 
Siamese, but the letters of their alphabet are entirely 
different. Since I paid this village a visit it has been 
entirely destroyed by fire, not a single house left ; but 
I can never forget the kindness of its people nor the 
pathetic tales they told of the capture of their fore- 
fathers, yet they all expressed a deep devotion to the 
Xing, for whom they had no words but praise. Ee- 
turning to Bangkok I took nothing with me but the 
most pleasant reminiscences of this trip into the inte- 
rior, convinced that if King Chulalongkorn is allowed 
to carry out his plans of progress for the development 
of his kingdom, aided by his nobles, in a short 
time Siam will become one of the most prolific coun- 
tries occupied by man, for it would seem as if the Ora- 
nicient has showered his blessings on this favored king- 
dom with a lavish hand, making it indeed The Pearl of 
Asia. 



THE END. 



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